'Winlogui.exe' Miner

Several users worldwide have reported an unknown process running on their systems. The process in question is ‘Winlogui.exe.’ The creators of ‘Winlogui.exe’ have made sure to add the ‘Win’ part to the name, which would usually indicate a legitimate Windows related process and will not raise any suspicions. However, that is not the case at all. The ‘Winlogui.exe’ process indicates the presence of a cryptocurrency miner. Cryptocurrency miners tend to affect their host negatively as they use huge amounts of CPU and thus cause the whole system to slow down and underperform. Users who have cryptocurrency miners planted on their systems are likely to have their browsing quality greatly affected. Evil-minded actors plant cryptocurrency miners on their targets’ systems to generate cash for themselves while also using a significant amount of electricity and reducing the lifespan of the infiltrated device.

Propagation Method

Malware researchers have not been able to pinpoint the exact propagation method behind the spreading of the ‘Winlogui.exe’ Miner. It is likely that the attackers may have used malvertising campaigns, pirated applications, and media, bogus software updates, torrent trackers, etc.

Self-Preservation Techniques

The authors of the ‘Winlogui.exe’ Miner have made sure that their threat is capable of detecting when the user attempts to use an application linked to system performance analysis like Windows Task Manager, for example. If such activity is detected, the ‘Winlogui.exe’ Miner will cease activity so that the user does not notice how much additional CPU is being used and figure out that something is not quite right. The miner also tampers with Windows Registry to make sure that the corrupted executable is initiated every time the system is rebooted. To enforce the miner starts with Windows on boot, a linker file (.lnk) is added to the startup directory that links to the ‘Winlogui.exe.’

If you notice that your system is underperforming, use a performance analysis tool to figure out what the issue may be. However, threats like the ‘Winlogui.exe’ Miner may be more difficult to spot as they are good at evading such tools. This is why it is so necessary to have a reputable anti-malware application that will make sure that such nasty threats do not manage to sneak onto your system.