Pokumi.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

What is Pokumi.exe process?

As I have mentioned before, Pokumi.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file can be different, however, the impacts are almost always the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your PC to conduct this procedure. This malware doesn’t take note of the fact that you may need to make use of your computer for other tasks – it will always consume over 80% of your processor power.

Pokumi.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Pokumi.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes may cause unhappy effects.

Crypto mining is a term that means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong desktop is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of dozens of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.²

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

How dangerous is the Pokumi.exe miner?

Firstly, Pokumi.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.

Pokumi.exe Technical Summary.

“Visible” damage is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners do to your PC. Pokumi.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malevolent operations effectively, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are added by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be gone back to the original in the process of system recovery.

Hardware effects of coin miner activity

Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, performing at peak level for a long period of time may cause damage to your machine and raise power costs. PC components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

Small and covered processor fan is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Pokumi.exe malware can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure³. Video cards are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable situation when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

How did I get Pokumi.exe coin miner virus?

Coin miners are the most prevalent malicious programs among “serious” malware. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Pokumi.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that approximately 30% of all viruses spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Pokumi.exe is just one of them.⁴

The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

An additional way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable site as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each installation. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your PC.

How to remove the Pokumi.exe miner from my PC?

Removing such a virus requires making use of specific app. Proper anti-malware program must have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak computers. On top of that, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your security solution – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits all of the specified qualities.⁵

Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Pokumi.exe miner takes a lot of processor power, it is needed to halt it before launching the security program. Otherwise, your scan will last for years, even though the GridinSoft program is pretty lightweight.

Booting the PC into Safe Mode with Networking

Press the Start button, then choose Power, and click on Reboot while holding the Shift key on the keyboard.

Windows will reboot into recovery mode. In that mode, choose Troubleshoot→ Startup Settings→ Safe Mode with Networking. Press the corresponding button on your keyboard to choose that option.

When your computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

Remove Pokumi.exe coin miner virus with GridinSoft Anti-Malware

Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware. You can use this anti-malware program for free during its 6-day trial period. In that term, all functions are available, and it takes no payments to remove malware from your system.

After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

When the scan is finished, press the Clean Now button to remove all detected elements from your system. This procedure takes less than a minute.

Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

References

1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
4. Read more about various malware type on GridinSoft Threat Encyclopedia.
5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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