With most security suites you renew your subscription every year, and get all updates automatically. K7 Ultimate Security Gold 14 takes a different approach. For $59.99, you get a lifetime license, and you still get all updates. Unfortunately, this isn't a product you'd want to spend a lifetime using.
Like K7's standalone antivirus, this suite sports a brushed-steel look and a faintly military feel. From the home screen, which displays protection status, you can slide over to the details screen, which offers high-level control over security components in the form of on/off switches. The main Settings screen offers access to more fine-grained control over configuration.
Same Antivirus, Almost
With one exception, the suite's antivirus protection is precisely the same as that of K7 Antivirus Plus 14, and you can read that review for the full particulars. I will simply summarize here.
In my hands-on malware blocking test, K7 detected 61 percent of the samples on sight, leaving it quite a bit behind products like Comodo Internet Security Complete 7 and VIPRE Internet Security 2014, which wiped out 94 percent and 100 percent, respectively, as soon as I opened the sample folder. It did detect more of the samples when I launched them, but its overall score of 8.6 points is in the lower half of the current crowd.
Next, for a false-positive sanity check, I attempted to install 20 antique PCMag utilities, most of which hook deeply into Windows and none of which are digitally signed. I was unpleasantly surprised to find that K7 identified half of these as Trojans. That's far worse than bombarding the user with warnings about suspicious behavior the way Comodo does.
On the plus side, K7's malicious URL blocking component worked well. It blocked all access to 59 of 100 real-world malware downloads and whacked another 11 immediately on download. Only avast! Internet Security 2014, with a total of 79 percent, has scored better.
For a full explanation of my malware blocking tests, see How We Test Malware Blocking.
K7 Ultimate Security Gold 14 Malware Blocking Chart
So-So Lab Results
I carefully follow the regular reports from six antivirus testing labs. Top products like Kaspersky PURE 3.0 Total Security earn stellar ratings from all six. K7 only participates with two of the six, and doesn't do all that well.
Of the last 12 tests by Virus Bulletin, K7 participated in six and received VB100 certification in four. Kaspersky participated in ten and passed all ten; big difference! In a three-part evaluation by AV-Test Institute, with each part worth up to six points, K7 earned 4.0 points for protection, 3.5 points for performance, and 4.5 points for usability (meaning few false positives). Its overall score, 12 of 18 possible points, is good enough to pass, but four products managed 17.5 points and Kaspersky got a perfect 18.
To learn more about the labs and how I aggregate their tests into the chart below, see How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.
K7 Ultimate Security Gold 14 Lab Tests Chart
Other Shared Features
The K7 suite and standalone antivirus share a number of other security features. Both can scan for unpatched vulnerabilities, for abnormal changes to system settings, and for rootkits. Both can check USB drives for malware on insertion and can also modify any USB drive so it can't be colonized by malware. You can use either to quickly wipe out Windows temp files or browser temp files. And a virtual keyboard lets you enter passwords with no chance of keys being logged.
The device control feature gives users detailed control over programs on USB drives, optical media, and floppy disc. You can ban the use of any drive type, make it read-only, or prevent execution of files from this drive type. Really, though, most users won't touch this feature.
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