Malware Minimizer

Overview

Malware Minimizer is an open-source, cross-platform software designed to scan devices for malware and provide actionable steps to address detected threats. The primary goal is to deliver a lightweight, user-friendly solution that works directly from the command line without requiring extensive setup or additional dependencies for end users.

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Features

1. Fast Scan:

   • Quickly scans files and compares their hashes against a malware database.
   • Includes basic malware removal and quarantine functionality.

2. Deep Scan Lane:

   • Exposes a --deep CLI mode while heuristic analysis continues to mature.
   • Preserves the fast-scan contract and surfaces fallback behavior clearly to users.

3. Cross-Platform CLI:

   • Designed for use on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
   • Simple and intuitive command-line interface.

4. Automated Malware Database Updates:

   • Ensures access to the latest malware signatures for accurate detection.

5. Open Source:

   • Fully hosted on GitHub with detailed documentation and community-driven development.

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Repository Snapshot

Verified from the repository, GitHub metadata, and workflow configuration on April 7, 2026.

• 321 commits, 139 pull requests, and 110 issues: active, review-driven development rather than a one-off demo repository.
• 47 labels organized into 7 phases, 18 component areas, 3 priority tiers, 3 difficulty levels, and 2 milestone tracks so contributors can find scoped work quickly.
• A documented contributor system: AGENTS.md, docs/contributing-guidelines.md, docs/development-guide.md, docs/architecture-documentation.md, tests/README.md, and a workflow quickstart in docs/agent-workflow-quickstart.md.
• Structured onboarding for new contributors: a one-week Rust ramp, a guided mini-project, and autograder-style CLI tests in tests/onboarding_hash_cli.rs, backed by docs/onboarding_assignment.txt and docs/onboarding-example-prs.md.
• Cross-platform CI on Linux, macOS, and Windows across x86_64 and ARM64 with pinned GitHub Action SHAs, cargo audit, cargo deny, cargo supply-chain, SBOM generation, concurrency cancellation, tiered caching, and deterministic RUSTFLAGS.
• A crates.io-only dependency policy in deny.toml, with unknown-registry = "deny" and unknown-git = "deny".
• Automated signature publishing: a weekly workflow generates 150 signatures, prepares checksummed update artifacts, and publishes them to GitHub Pages and GitHub Releases.
• Defense-in-depth implementation details already present in the codebase: checksum-verified updates, atomic database writes, quarantine path validation, restrictive permissions, and rollback logic for failure paths.
• Executable quality gates via scripts/validate_strict.sh, which runs formatting, clippy, the main test suite, ignored tests, and doctests. On the checked-out main branch inspected on April 7, 2026, that strict validation path passed.

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Quick Start

Installation

The supported setup path today is a source build. The packaged install flow described in docs/Comprehensive_Plan_2026.txt is still on the roadmap; scripts/install.sh and scripts/install.ps1 are not present in this checkout yet.

• macOS/Linux:

  git clone https://github.com/Jordan231111/MalwareMinimizer.git
  cd MalwareMinimizer
  ./scripts/setup.sh
  cargo build

• Windows:

  Follow the manual setup steps in the Development Guide.

Common Commands

• Fast Scan:

  cargo run -- scan --path /path/to/scan

• Deep Scan:

  cargo run -- scan --path /path/to/scan --deep

• Update the signature database:

  cargo run -- update-db

• Print OS-specific scheduling instructions:

  cargo run -- schedule-updates --hours 12

• Quarantine Detected Malware:

  cargo run -- quarantine-file --path /path/to/file --name "EICAR Test File"

• List quarantined files:

  cargo run -- list-quarantined

• Restore a quarantined file:

  cargo run -- restore --id <entry_id>

• Remove a quarantined file:

  cargo run -- remove --id <entry_id> --force

• Hash a file or directory:

  cargo run -- hash --path /path/to/file --json

remove-file and ID-based quarantine remain exposed in the CLI surface, but the current release-ready path is quarantine-file -> list-quarantined -> restore / remove.

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Development Setup

See the Development Guide for full setup steps.

Quick summary:

• Rust (stable toolchain)
• Python 3.11 (for helper scripts/tests)
• Optional OpenSSL dependencies if native TLS is used
• Run ./scripts/setup.sh on macOS/Linux for a guided setup

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Security & Privacy

• Scanning happens locally on your machine.
• Database updates are pulled from trusted sources; verify checksums when provided.
• Do not use real malware samples in tests—use the EICAR test string.

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FAQs

• Q: My Python interpreter is 3.13.x. How do I switch to 3.11?
  A: In VS Code, click the Python version in the bottom-right status bar and select 3.11 from the interpreter list.

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Contributing

We welcome contributions! If you'd like to contribute:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature/bugfix.
3. Submit a pull request with detailed descriptions of your changes.
4. See Contributing Guidelines for details.

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Feedback

Please submit feedback, suggestions, or bug reports via:

• GitHub Issues: Create an Issue
• Discord: Join our Project Discord.

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License

This project is licensed under the GNU GPL v3.0 or later. See LICENSE.