These two huge PC performance app downloads have been infected by a virus

If you've downloaded CPU-Z or HWMonitor recently, you might want to double check the files you've used, as they could be infected.

The CPU-Z and HWMonitor download pages have recently been compromised, with download links replaced with ones pointing to files infected by malware. If you've recently downloaded either of these apps from the CPUID site, you should double-check that the file is of the expected file naming style "hwmonitor_1.63.exe" or "cpu-z_2.19-en.exe" and not "HWiNFO_Monitor_Setup.exe" or some other format. It's also worth doing a virus scan, though Windows Defender is reported to have flagged the compromised versions of these files.

The infected files were first spotted around nine hours ago, with an attacker seemingly having compromised the CPUID download site with these infected file links. However, as of right now, the correct links do appear to have returned to the page, so the apps should be safe to download again, although CPUID hasn't issued a statement yet regarding the issue. If you use either of these programs to monitor your gaming PC, your best bet is to keep using the versions you have and trust, or wait until CPUID has confirmed the situation.

CPU-Z and HWMonitor are apps used to identify and monitor your PC's hardware, respectively. CPU-Z is a useful tool for checking what hardware your system is running - for if you've picked up a second-hand laptop, for instance, and are not sure exactly what's inside - or if you want to check certain aspects of your system are running correctly, such as what clock speed your CPU and RAM are actually running at.

Meanwhile, HWMmonitor provides information such as the temperature of your CPU and GPU, the speed at which certain fans in your system are running, and the voltages and power consumption of your CPU and GPU.

The infection of CPUID's file downloads was first spotted by Reddit user DMkiIIer, who posted on the PCMasterrace subreddit that "WARNING! HWMonitor 1.63 Download on the official 'CPUID' page is a Virus!!!" Their post goes on to detail how they downloaded a file named "HWiNFO_Monitor_Setup.exe" via the official CPUID download page and that upon running it, Windows Defender immediately flagged that it thought it contained a virus.

Thinking this a false positive, DMkiIIer continued with the installation, but then was alarmed to see that the installer was in Russian, so cancelled the installation.

The operators of CPUID have so far not issued any response to this issue, with the site's news section showing it was last updated in 2024, and the site's social media channels long having been abandoned. We'll update this story when more details emerge.

For a free, trustworthy way to test your PC's performance, you can check out PCGameBenchmark. This software is operated by our sister company, as part of the Network N Media group.