Minergate

Posted: October 17, 2017

Threat Metric

The Threat Meter is a malware assessment that SpywareRemove.com's research team is able to give every identifiable malware threat. Our Threat Meter includes several criteria based off of specific malware threats to value their severity, reach and volume. The Threat Meter is able to give you a numerical breakdown of each threat's initial Threat Level, Detection Count, Volume Count, Trend Path and Percentage Impact. The overall ranking of each threat in the Threat Meter is a basic breakdown of how all threats are ranked within our own extensive malware database. The scoring for each specific malware threat can be easily compared to other emerging threats to draw a contrast in its particular severity. The Threat Meter is a useful tool in the endeavor of seeking a solution to remove a threat or pursue additional analytical research for all types of computer users.

The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:

Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.

Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.

Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.

Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.

% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.

Ranking:	2,397
Threat Level:	1/10
Infected PCs:	73,427

First Seen:	October 17, 2017
Last Seen:	October 17, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Minergate.exe is a process name associated with a Trojan Miner that may utilize a significant portion of the computer's available CPU resources to mine for various cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Zcash, Monero and others. In the past few weeks, we've covered a broad range of Trojan miners such as the Slmgr32.exe CPU Miner, the Shadowsocks Miner Trojan, Systemcore.exe CPU Miner, and others. It certainly looks like stealthy cryptocurrency miners are the newest fad among the cybercrooks and, honestly, it doesn't surprise us one bit. Trojan Miners were ignored by many anti-virus products until recently, and they give ill-minded users the ability to exploit the hardware of their victims silently to mine various cryptocurrencies that will be transferred to their wallets immediately. While this operation may sound harmless, by keeping your CPU or GPU under constant load, the miner might shorten their lifespan and also hinder the performance of software and games you run on your computer significantly.

In the past few weeks, we've received countless updates regarding various cryptocurrency miners, which are meant to work without the user knowing about this. Since these miners can be made by just about anyone, they may use a broad range of file and process names, reside in various folders, and be spread via various means. The best way to keep Trojan Miners away from your computer is to:

Avoid downloading pirated software and games.
Don't download files from websites that are not reliable and verified.
Avoid visiting peer-to-peer sharing sites since they may often be used to spread illicit digital content.
Make sure to use a credible anti-virus software suite since it should be able to stop Trojan miners from running on your computer.

Some of the processes associated with Trojan CPU and GPU miners are:

minergate.exe
VideoCardUpdater.exe
runhosts.exe
uninstaller.exe
Up.exe
Wniheuzori.exe
slove.exe
wuauclt.exe
Xmriig.exe
Vlngp1.exe
Musallat.exe
Test.exe
Install6.exe
Wupdate.exe
Msvc.exe
Zcash.exe
sysConfig.bat
NVIDIA.exe
DirectX11b.exe
AppxadsulP.exe
winin1t.exe
svchostr.exe
synctask.exe
XMgrenim.exe
vnlgp.exe
Helper.exe
Image.exe
Nsgpucnminer.exe
Bot.exe
Sc.exe
slmgr32.exe
Windows-upt.exe
Nheqminer.exe
Affada.exe
Cppredistx86.exe
Optimizer.exe
Mess.exe
Cpucheck.exe
Update_new.exe
Platforms.exe
Xm86.exeVshub.exe
Svshost.exe
Zqeyx aaxo.exe
Nvdisplay.exe
Anydeskapp.exe
GEN.exe
Hjhdgshjef.exe
Svchose.exe
Qc64.exe
Duckgo.exe
Iconrdb.exe

These processes may be placed in various directories and system folders, but so far the most common places they reside in are:

C:\Users\\App Data\Roaming\Server\
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\Microsoft\natihial
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\Microsoft\windowssql
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\Microsoft\framework
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\Microsoft\Windows\System32\Recovery
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\Microsoft\directx11b
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\Microsoft\microsoftcom
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\wupdate
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\Microsoft\
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\Microsoft\
C:\Users\\App Data\VideoCardUpdater\
C:\Program Files\G89CXYP6N9\
C:\Users\\App Data\Roaming\xmgcash
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\BCDNJTWLUX
C:\Windows\slove\
C:\Windows\Temp\6E34.tmp\
C:\Users\\App Data\Local\Temp
C:\Winsys\
C:\Users\\App Data\Local\Temp\1400.tmp
C:\ProgramData\DirectX11b
C:\ProgramData\AppxadsulP
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\DhcQ
C:\ProgramData\Natihial
C:\Users\\App Data\Roaming\bodor
C:\Users\\App Data\Roaming\xmgcach
C:\Users\\App Data\Roaming\vnlgp\vnlgp
C:\Users\\App Data\Microsoft\Windows
C:\Users\\App Data\Roaming\images
C:\Users\\App Data\Roaming\FastCh
C:\Users\\App Data\Local Low\SLMgr
C:\Users\\App Data\Roaming\Windows_x64_nhqeminer-5c
C:\Users\\App Data\Local\Optimizer
C:\ProgramData\CupCheck
C:\Program Files\jetstrmedia\netmedia
AppData\AnyDeskApp
AppData\CloudPrinter
AppData\Codec
AppData\Interl Management
AppData\Local\GenericTools
AppData\Local\Programs\Gen
AppData\Local\Temp\is-2PMDK.tmp
AppData\Roaming\AGData\bin
AppData\Roaming\HWmonitorApp
AppData\Ronzap
C:\Windows
C:\Windows\Microsoft\Svchost.exe.update
C:\Windows\Windows\9473a2fafe204da49741664f96907b44
C:\Windows\aadhdgh
C:\Windows\dsp
Program Files (x86)\KvUg2SbQotRx
Program Files\29044DMFYR\
Program Files\ALQNKUM7O1
Program Files\Client\
Program Files\HPLion
Program Files\Microleaves\Online Application\Version 2.6.0\
ProgramData\WindowsVolume

Failing to remove a Trojan Miner from your computer will not put you in danger, but it may have an adverse impact on your computer's overall performance, as well as on its ability to run heavy software and games. The recommended way to remove a Trojan Miner is to run a suitable anti-malware tool that will discover and eliminate all files linked to the intrusive application.