HashGuard – CLI Virus Scanner

HashGuard is a lightweight, drag-and-drop CLI virus scanner that uses VirusTotal to check files for malware. It hashes any file using SHA-256, queries VirusTotal, and gives a color-coded risk rating.

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🛠 Tech Used

• Python 3.x
• Requests – for API requests
• Hashlib – for SHA-256 hashing
• Colorama – for colored CLI output
• VirusTotal API – for malware detection

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✨ Features

• CLI-based drag-and-drop scanning

• SHA-256 hash computation of any file

• VirusTotal hash lookup

• Color-coded risk levels:

  • High → Red
  • Medium → Yellow
  • None / Unknown → Green

• Friendly message for unknown files: “Very low chances of being a virus”

• Handles no internet connection gracefully

• Pause at end to review results

Note: This only runs on Windows

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⚙️ Process

1. User drags a file onto the executable.
2. Program hashes the file using SHA-256.
3. Sends the hash to VirusTotal API.
4. Retrieves JSON scan results.
5. Prints a summary with color-coded risk level.
6. If file is unknown in VirusTotal, prints a “very low chances” message.

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🧠 What I Learned

• How to interact with external APIs (VirusTotal) via Python.
• Handling JSON responses and extracting meaningful data.
• Using CLI color coding for better UX.
• Handling file operations and hashing securely.
• Error handling for network issues and invalid API keys.

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🚀 How to Run

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/HashGuard.git
cd HashGuard

2. Run the script:

Just Drop a File over it

3. When prompted, enter your VirusTotal API Key (must have your own key).

4. Drag and drop the file you want to scan onto the program.

5. Wait for the output. Press Enter to exit after the results are displayed.

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🎬 Preview

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