🛡 Zack Defender

A modern Windows security center with four-engine local scanning.
Material Design 3 UI | Lightweight · Efficient · Open Source

EN English | 简体中文

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✨ Features

Feature	Description
🛡 Four-Engine Scanning	Hash → ClamAV → YARA → Windows Defender — progressive scanning across four layers, catching threats that others miss
🔍 Multiple Scan Modes	Quick scan (7 critical directories), full system scan, custom folder scan, right-click context menu scan
🦊 SilverFox Specialized	Dedicated detection for SilverFox trojan variants prevalent in the Asia-Pacific region
📊 Real-Time Monitor	Live protection status, signature version, and engine info via WMI & PowerShell
📋 Global Threat History	Cross-page persistent history — scan results and system threats unified in one view
📦 Quarantine Manager	View and manage quarantined files — restore or permanently delete
🔔 Notifications	MD3 snackbar in-app + Windows toast bubbles via system tray
📌 System Tray	Minimize to tray, right-click for quick scan, always-on protection
🎨 Themes	System / Light / Dark mode — follows your Windows theme or manual pick
🎭 Mascot System	An adorable fox companion through every scan — security doesn't have to be scary
📋 Changelog	Auto popup on first run after update, revisitable from Settings
🔒 Single Instance	Only one instance can run — polite notice if you try to open a second
📦 MSIX Package	Modern installer with automatic updates and clean uninstall
🖼 Context Menu	Right-click any file or folder in Explorer to scan instantly

📸 Screenshots

Dashboard	Scan	Dark Theme	Silver fox

🚀 Installation

Download the latest release from Releases:

File	Format	Notes
Zack-Defender-v1.9.0.zip	ZIP	Recommended — modern installer, Win10 21H2+

System requirements:

• Windows 10 21H2 (build 19044) or later / Windows 11
• Windows Defender recommended to keep enabled (serves as the 4th engine layer)
• ClamAV and YARA engines are bundled — no additional installation required

🛠 Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
UI Framework	Qt 6.11 + QML
Design System	Material Design 3 (MD3)
Language	C++17
Build System	CMake + Ninja
Compiler	MinGW 13.1 (GCC)
Packaging	MSIX / Portable ZIP

Four-Engine Scan Architecture — sequential execution, progressive escalation:

EngineManager (scan orchestrator)
    │
    ├── HashEngine     → SHA-256 blacklist matching (fastest)
    ├── ClamAVEngine   → Open-source signature database (191MB+ signatures)
    ├── YaraEngine     → Custom YARA rules (SilverFox / ransomware / miners)
    └── DefenderEngine → Windows Defender CLI interface (system-level fallback)

15 async C++ backends — zero UI thread blocking:

EngineManager       → Four-engine pipeline orchestrator
HashEngine          → SHA-256 hash blacklist fast matching
ClamAVEngine        → ClamAV open-source AV engine wrapper
YaraEngine          → YARA rule engine (SilverFox-specific rules included)
DefenderEngine      → Windows Defender MpCmdRun wrapper
SilverFoxEngine     → SilverFox trojan specialized detection
DefenderScanner     → General scan worker (path traversal, progress stats)
ProtectionMonitor   → Real-time protection status (WMI + PowerShell)
ThreatHistory       → Global threat history (QSettings persistence)
QuarantineManager   → Local + Defender quarantine management
TrayManager         → System tray icon & notifications
ThemeManager        → Dark/Light/System theme
UpdateManager       → Version changelog on update
ContextMenuManager  → Explorer right-click menu integration
VirusTotalEngine    → VirusTotal online lookup (auxiliary reference)

🔧 Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Qt 6.11+ (mingw_64 kit)
• MinGW 13.1+ (bundled with Qt)
• CMake 3.16+
• Material Components QML

Build

# Set up environment (adjust paths as needed)
export PATH="/d/Qt/Tools/CMake_64/bin:/d/Qt/Tools/Ninja:/d/Qt/Tools/mingw1310_64/bin:/d/Qt/6.11.1/mingw_64/bin:$PATH"

# Configure & compile
cd ZackDefender
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="/d/Qt/6.11.1/mingw_64"
cmake --build build --target appzackdefender

# Run
./build/appzackdefender.exe

📁 Project Structure

md3-guardian/
├── src/
│   ├── main.cpp                  # Entry point + single-instance lock
│   ├── resources.qrc              # Qt resource file
│   ├── backend/                   # C++ backends (15 classes)
│   │   ├── EngineManager.cpp      # Four-engine scan orchestrator
│   │   ├── HashEngine.cpp         # Hash blacklist engine
│   │   ├── ClamAVEngine.cpp       # ClamAV engine
│   │   ├── YaraEngine.cpp         # YARA rule engine
│   │   ├── DefenderEngine.cpp     # Defender engine
│   │   ├── SilverFoxEngine.cpp    # SilverFox specialized detection
│   │   ├── VirusTotalEngine.cpp   # VirusTotal lookup
│   │   ├── DefenderScanner.cpp    # General scan worker
│   │   ├── ProtectionMonitor.cpp  # Real-time protection monitor
│   │   ├── ThreatHistory.cpp      # Global threat history
│   │   ├── QuarantineManager.cpp  # Quarantine manager
│   │   ├── TrayManager.cpp        # System tray
│   │   ├── ThemeManager.cpp       # Theme manager
│   │   ├── UpdateManager.cpp      # Changelog manager
│   │   └── ContextMenuManager.cpp # Right-click menu
│   ├── qml/
│   │   ├── Main.qml               # Root window + global components
│   │   └── pages/
│   │       ├── DashboardPage.qml  # Home dashboard
│   │       ├── ScanPage.qml       # Scan center
│   │       ├── ProtectionPage.qml # Protection status
│   │       ├── QuarantinePage.qml # Quarantine
│   │       ├── SilverFoxPage.qml  # SilverFox specialized
│   │       └── SettingsPage.qml   # Settings
│   └── assets/                    # Icons + mascot assets
├── CMakeLists.txt                 # CMake configuration
├── deploy/                        # Engine deployment files
│   ├── engines/
│   │   ├── clamav/                # ClamAV database (~191MB)
│   │   └── yara/                  # YARA rules
│   └── ...
└── qtquickcontrols2.conf          # Font config (Microsoft YaHei)

📋 Version History

Version	Date	Highlights
v1.9.0	Jul 2026	🎨 Visual refresh & UX upgrade: Qt 6.11 build, MSIX packaging, mascot system, global ThreatHistory, emoji vitality
v1.8.0	Internal	🏗 UI restructure (internal, unreleased)
v1.7.0	Internal	🔧 Engine replacement: VirusTotal online retired, ClamAV + YARA local engines added
v1.6.0	Internal	🦊 SilverFox trojan specialized module
v1.5.0	Internal	🎨 Scan refactor & UI upgrade
v1.2.0	Jun 2026	🌐 Initial public release: Windows Defender single engine

📄 License

This project is released under the MIT License.

Third-party components:

• Qt Framework — LGPL v3 / GPL v3
• Material Components QML — LGPL v3
• ClamAV — GPL v2
• YARA — BSD 3-Clause