NsCpuCNMiner32.exe

NsCpuCNMiner is a Trojan that uses your PC's hardware to generate Monero coins, a cryptocurrency similar to Bitcoin. Extended exposure to NsCpuCNMiner infections may cause permanent damage to your PC, as well as be a point of origin for various system instability issues. Since this threat does include self-distribution capabilities, malware experts recommend using anti-malware tools to uninstall NsCpuCNMiner while keeping any contact with any systems or storage devices to a minimum.

The Trojan Enslaving Your PC for Some Old-Fashioned Mining

The creation of Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies like it, such as Litecoin, Dash or Monero, is a phenomenon of interest to more than just financial speculators and investors interested in protecting their anonymity. Malware authors also may incorporate features revolving around these currencies into their threatening software. One of the latest of these 'products,' as seen by malware experts, is NsCpuCNMiner, a threat seen in the wild since early 2016.

NsCpuCNMiner installs itself through a script-based file disguising itself as a photo that also may spread itself to new, accessible hard drives or FTP server directories. This Trojan dropper drops the primary component of NsCpuCNMiner, the executable file NsCpuCNMiner32.exe, into the default Temp folder. Malware analysts confirmed that NsCpuCNMiner persists across system reboots and launches automatically.

When it launches, NsCpuCNMiner uses all available CPU resources to power its mining process. This function generates Monero currency for its administrators silently, allowing them to profit off of running other people's hardware. For comparison, average CPU usage while idling could be five percent. CPU usage while running a demanding gaming application (for example, an application utilizing multithreading) could go over fifty. However, NsCpuCNMiner can spike CPU usage up to a continual usage percentage of over ninety while the rest of the PC idles.

Demolishing a Modern Threat Mine

NsCpuCNMiner's most unusual features aren't related to its primary purpose as a Monero miner, but, instead, are part of its distribution strategy. NsCpuCNMiner's installation component duplicates itself across multiple drives, similarly to a worm, and NsCpuCNMiner also may drop the same file within arbitrary, unprotected FTP directories. PC users should watch for a digital content named 'Photo' that use inappropriate icons or extensions concealing the 'SCR' script format.

Fortunately, malware experts note that NsCpuCNMiner's intensive hardware usage also comes with the standard symptoms associated with cryptocurrency mining Trojans. Monitoring utilities like Task Manager or HWMonitor can detect changes in CPU usage or any corresponding side effects, such as drastic rises in hardware temperatures. You should try to delete NsCpuCNMiner through anti-malware products immediately to prevent its prolonged CPU usage from causing any long-term damage that could necessitate replacing part or all of your computer.

There are no benefits to being ignorant of the basics of your PC's hardware specifications. Keeping an eye on these norms can stop otherwise invisible, prolifically breeding threats like NsCpuCNMiner from using your machine for the benefit of a con artist's cryptocurrency wallet.