Punisher Miner Malware

The Punisher Miner Malware falls into the malware category of crypto-miners. These threats are designed to hijack the hardware resources of the infected computers specifically and utilize them to mine for a specific cryptocurrency or several different crypto coins. The presence of a crypto-miner on the system can have severe consequences.

First, users may notice that their computers have become sluggish and less responsive. This should not come as a surprise because crypto-miners overtake the system's CPU (processor) or GPU (video/graphics card) resources leaving only a fraction available for other operations on the device. The affected computer may become unstable, freeze, or crash in extreme cases. Furthermore, the high utilization of the hardware parts puts them under significant pressure and, if the cooling is not sufficient, the excessive heat could physically damage the computer's components.

Threatening Capabilities

Infosec researchers have observed the Punisher Miner being advertised on underground hacker forums. According to the description provided by its creators, the threat can be used to mine for Monero (XMR), Toncoin (TON), and Ravencoin (RVN) cryptocurrencies. To avoid being intercepted by Windows Defender, the anti-malware component of Windows systems, the Punisher Miner adds itself to the Defender's exceptions list. The authors of the threat also claim that the miner cannot be terminated via the Windows Task Manager or other similar tools.