Advice Request K7 Total Security (Powered By MAT)

[I3rYcE]

View attachment 270268

Dear Valued Customer, Thank you for contacting K7 Technical support. We would like to inform you that K7 MAT is not a feature, its a new K7 product. As for now MAT upgrade is not applicable for Lifetime products. We would like to inform you that MAT key only will support MAT version. ​

 

[bellgamin]

Sounds like more smoke and mirrors to me.

Several other Antivirus apps already have AI built into their protective processes -- such as WiseVector Stop-X. With MAT, it seems that K7 is belatedly trying to catch-up while, at the same time, leaving their customers grasping at the wind because of K7's inconsistency in replying to queries.

I think they will eventually get things squared away but -- for now -- it IS off-putting, wot?

 

[Popolitus]

the info i got:

Dear Valued Customer,

Greetings for the day!!

With reference to your email, we understood that you want to upgrade the serial key to the MAT version.

We have verified the serial number and we would like to inform you that as of now upgradation of MAT is not available.

Meanwhile, in case of any queries kindly get back to us we are at your disposal.

Thank you for your support.

Regards,
K7 Support Team

 

[bellgamin]

If you have the MAT version, the UI will look like this.

View attachment 270254

Your post shows that you have been successful in obtaining the MAT version of K7 Total Security.

In your opinion, if I now buy a new license for K7 Total Security from HERE, will I receive the MAT version?

 

[anirbandutta01]

Your post shows that you have been successful in obtaining the MAT version of K7 Total Security.

In your opinion, if I now buy a new license for K7 Total Security from HERE, will I receive the MAT version?

Yes one of their expert told me the same.

 

[roger_m]

Your post shows that you have been successful in obtaining the MAT version of K7 Total Security.

In your opinion, if I now buy a new license for K7 Total Security from HERE, will I receive the MAT version?

That's just a screenshot their support sent to me. I still have the old version for now, as I don't want to buy another license. You should in theory get the MAT version - if it's actually been released. It seems a bit strange the users who buy new licenses get the MAT version, but existing users don't get it just yet.

 

[anirbandutta01]

That's just a screenshot their support sent to me. I still have the old version for now, as I don't want to buy another license. You should in theory get the MAT version - if it's actually been released. It seems a bit strange the users who buy new licenses get the MAT version, but existing users don't get it just yet.

They told me after enter new key product will be upgraded to MAT version, but without new released version how it possible ?

 

[bellgamin]

Reluctantly I have switched back to G-Data for now. Per AV-Comparatives Chart, the lowest system resource users are K7 then Panda then ESET then G-data -- in that order. Panda is a so-so AV & ESET won't install on my Win7 computer, so I chose G-data.

G-Data runs just fine on my aging laptop computer. PLUS G-Data has an excellent AI/behavior-blocker (AI/BB) whereas -- up until MAT is really & truly available to existing users -- K7 evidently does NOT have.

An AI/BB is a very useful component of an AV when it comes to dealing with zero-day and other malware that often is not detected by signatures. Sadly, there are very few "professional" test sites that attempt to test AVs against those types of malware. Evidently, it is difficult to conduct such tests, right? Or.........?

 

[bellgamin]

I checked K7 website again. MAT is now prominently displayed on applicable versions of K7, as shown below...

Therefore, I bought Total Security even though I have an unexpired license for K7 Premium. Why? Because I wanted to give K7 + MAT a trial. I DID get the version that @roger_m showed in an earlier post in this thread, as being MAT-inclusive.

After I went through all the settings I found no mention of MAT so I *assume* MAT is included somewhere inside K7.

Also I could find NO way to temporarily turn off K7's self-protection so I would be able to delete K7's shortcut icon on my desktop's upper left corner. Grrrrr! I like a clean desktop. If anyone knows where the "turn-on/off K7 self-protect" is now located, PLEASE let me know.

 

[vonvon]

The only way I found is to start Windows in safe mode, move or delete the icon and then to restart normally.
Best regards, Vonvon

 

[Sorrento]

Its in one of the admin settings, I cant remember where but have a good look around - It did really irk me to have a none removable icon on my desk (Grrrrrr) If you can't find it I'll install K7 & find it - It is there though...

 

[bellgamin]

@vonvon -- Yes, starting in safe mode did it. K7's desktop icon is gone. Thanks for sharing your experience. If not for that, I would have wasted time trying other possibilities -- an exercise in futility.

Evidently, one of K7's "improvements," with their MAT versions, was to make it impossible for a user to mess around with K7's self-protection. It's maybe a good approach for keeping less experienced users from accidentally turning off K7's self-protection.

@Sorrento -- I greatly appreciate your kind offer but -- it's too much hassle. Booting to Safe is fast & easy.

 

[anirbandutta01]

Have you

I checked K7 website again. MAT is now prominently displayed on applicable versions of K7, as shown below...
View attachment 270587
Therefore, I bought Total Security even though I have an unexpired license for K7 Premium. Why? Because I wanted to give K7 + MAT a trial. I DID get the version that @roger_m showed in an earlier post in this thread, as being MAT-inclusive.

After I went through all the settings I found no mention of MAT so I *assume* MAT is included somewhere inside K7.

Also I could find NO way to temporarily turn off K7's self-protection so I would be able to delete K7's shortcut icon on my desktop's upper left corner. Grrrrr! I like a clean desktop. If anyone knows where the "turn-on/off K7 self-protect" is now located, PLEASE let me know.

Hello, one of K7 executive told me that MAT is built in feature so no such MAT enable option .

 

[bellgamin]

The following VERY IMPORTANT link was called to my attention on another security forum:

Cybercriminals hijacked well known AV software - WinCert

Well-known Chinese threat actors have been discovered abusing a flaw in a known antivirus application to deliver malware to selected targets in Japan. Cybersecurity researchers from the Kaspersky lab spotted Cicada (APT10), which was...

www.wincert.net

I quote-in-part from that article (Caps & underlining added by me):

Cicada malware has been distributed with a method known as DLL sideloading where the victim first has to download a FAKE K7Security Suite.

I wonder: Just how does someone go about getting a FAKE K7 installed & running on his computer? I *assume* they do it by downloading a crack or by buying it from a reseller of unknown reliability. IMO, either way would be very foolish. Why? Because K7 is one of the very least expensive AVs when purchased directly from the developer's website. An AV, by its very nature, has great access to one's computer so -- why go on the cheap?

 

[SpiderWeb]

The following VERY IMPORTANT link was called to my attention on another security forum:

Cybercriminals hijacked well known AV software - WinCert

Well-known Chinese threat actors have been discovered abusing a flaw in a known antivirus application to deliver malware to selected targets in Japan. Cybersecurity researchers from the Kaspersky lab spotted Cicada (APT10), which was...

www.wincert.net

I quote-in-part from that article (Caps & underlining added by me):

I wonder: Just how does someone go about getting a FAKE K7 installed & running on his computer? I *assume* they do it by downloading a crack or by buying it from a reseller of unknown reliability. IMO, either way would be very foolish. Why? Because K7 is one of the very least expensive AVs when purchased directly from the developer's website. An AV, by its very nature, has great access to one's computer so -- why go on the cheap?

Probably one of the many "lifetime" keys on ebay. You get sent an email to download a special cracked version of the AV in question.

 

[Der.Reisende]

Some quick update:
I decided to buy a 1 PC / 3y license.
My existing Infiniti version (also Total Security) license does NOT work with the MAT version.
Apart from the changed UI, you will notice Infiniti version is v16.0.xxx, while the MAT version is v17.0.xxx
After sucessful activation, I received a huge update with 150+ files, and required reboot.

The changes seem to be mainly under the hood (MAT is there for sure, but invisible), the UI changed to a symbol / link system, which offers the well-known UI behind it. Also it seems the different versions have different colours (not changeable, at least I did not find the option to do so), @roger_m 's version was orange?

Spoiler: UI

 

[roger_m]

@roger_m 's version was orange?

That was the screenshot they sent me. I haven't upgraded yet. It's the same colour as the box for K7 TS shown on their website.

 

[bellgamin]

The GUI of my very recently purchased K7 Total Security is identical to that posted by @roger_m.

 

[Der.Reisende]

That was the screenshot they sent me. I haven't upgraded yet. It's the same colour as the box for K7 TS shown on their website.

I see!
Actually it isn‘t worth the upgrade yet IMO, I‘m thinking about going for that 30-days-money-back-guarantee they advertise with.
Did pull some signed .exe malware (GuLoader mostly) from URLHaus Malware Bazaar unknown to K7 yet (detection on VT about 20, multiple by Bitdefender engine). Although BB blocked them, some remained in memory, one in AutoRun and one it outbound (hollowed process). Scriptors weren‘t blocked at all, they are in AutoRun, trusted calling out via Powershell / wscript.
No sign of the magical MAT, identical outcome to the Non-MAT (I didn‘t compare yesterday, but punished it in the past).
Note i set K7 to maximum.
Actually the same goes for the new QuickHeal, though their BB was more reactive, still the same AutoRuns, but highly configured Firewall would at least warn on wscript.
Did not take any proofs, but I think @Shadowra will confirm soon.

Sorry for the rant, I will keep K7 as I’m quite happy w/ in Reallife use, knowing about it’s limitations, but the Infiniti I already paid for.
Simply a new painting doesn‘t do the job for me.

 

[Der.Reisende]

I see!
Actually it isn‘t worth the upgrade yet IMO, I‘m thinking about going for that 30-days-money-back-guarantee they advertise with.
Did pull some signed .exe malware (GuLoader mostly) from URLHaus Malware Bazaar unknown to K7 yet (detection on VT about 20, multiple by Bitdefender engine). Although BB blocked them, some remained in memory, one in AutoRun and one it outbound (hollowed process). Scriptors weren‘t blocked at all, they are in AutoRun, trusted calling out via Powershell / wscript.
No sign of the magical MAT, identical outcome to the Non-MAT (I didn‘t compare yesterday, but punished it in the past).
Note i set K7 to maximum.
Actually the same goes for the new QuickHeal, though their BB was more reactive, still the same AutoRuns, but highly configured Firewall would at least warn on wscript.
Did not take any proofs, but I think @Shadowra will confirm soon.

Sorry for the rant, I will keep K7 as I’m quite happy w/ in Reallife use, knowing about it’s limitations, but the Infiniti I already paid for.
Simply a new painting doesn‘t do the job for me.

Here some news:


Video recording did not work for me unfortunately.
However, it seems they instantly forwarded the files to their team, which added signatures (bravo, that's not the solution I was looking for).

Best news: As I booted up my machine tonight, I found my K7 MAT license deactivated out of sudden (working great 24h before). Seems they answered my refund request, but I did not get any confirmation (as stated here: https://www.k7computing.com/us/refund-cancellation-policy - "Upon receipt of above information, we will evaluate and process a refund by deducting the transaction fee from the original invoice value.") nor a refund yet.

I will update you as soon as I got a refund.

Decide on your own what you think about such behaviour.