The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many businesses embracing digital transformation to their fullest capacity. Equally, cybersecurity has become a primary concern during this pandemic as cybercrimes, inadvertent threats, cultural shift towards hybrid work, and other scenarios came into play. But this story begins in 1990, at the dawn of the computing age, when the DOS cluster virus Dir-II was unleashed, spreading across several countries.

A Story of True Passion!

J Kesavardhanan

The mastermind behind K7 Computing Pvt Ltd – J Kesavardhanan (Founder & CEO) – wrote and distributed his own antivirus program for free to save computing users from having their work ruined by Dir-II. He realised that the same technology which could be used to create a digital world could also be used to destroy, and the digital world he envisioned would be created only if cyber defenders created products to protect it. Therefore, he decided to focus on democratising cybersecurity: creating world-class cybersecurity that can be used by everyone.

Keseven (as he is popularly known) first experienced the power of computers way back in 1984 while pursuing a summer course in coding. He instantly fell in love with computing and the potential of computers to touch every aspect of our lives and revolutionise the world. Today, his brainchild – K7 Computing – is undoubtedly an embodiment of his passion for computing. The company not only delivers powerful protection against the latest cyberthreats, but also prioritizes efficiency to ensure those who use computers with modest hardware and those who have limited bandwidth access enjoy robust protection. K7 also creates intuitive user interfaces to enable ease of use for all its users.

The Wall of Fame

Established as a pure play cybersecurity firm in 1991, K7 Computing has grown by leaps and bounds into one of India’s most accomplished IT security companies that focuses primarily on quality and technical leadership in cybersecurity. Quality at K7 is demonstrated by repeatedly and consistently winning awards from the world’s foremost antivirus testing agencies including AV-Comparatives (Austria), AV-TEST (Germany) and Virus Bulletin (UK) and developing antivirus products that are internationally recognized for high efficiency i.e., they protect without slowing down the device or network.

K7’s technical leadership has been established over the years by being one of the few antivirus providers in the world to develop a scan engine in-house, making them entirely Made in India with no foreign IP involvement or ownership, and setting-up K7 Threat Labs to perform cutting-edge cyberthreat research. Keseven says, “Our edge over our competitors is due to our sustained efforts in improving quality and technology, and our results speak for themselves.” For instance, K7 Computing is the first and only Indian member of the prestigious Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA), the first winner of the RTTL Contributor of the Year Award from the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), and the only Indian Programme Partner of the Microsoft Azure Sphere Security Research Challenge for IoT vulnerabilities.

The Differentiating Factors

K7 Computing’s products have several USPs that make them the preferred choice of both its consumer and enterprise customers. The company prioritises speed as a critical differentiator in several areas: its antivirus products scan devices very quickly without affecting device performance; K7 Threat Labs ensure that it quickly identifies new cyberthreats and delivers updates multiple times a day, every day, to protect its customers; and the updates are designed to be compact, ensuring that customers receive them quickly without choking their network. Moreover, in the enterprise context, K7’s solutions are designed to be quickly deployed across the entire organisation.

The company also prioritises the development of simple and intuitive user interfaces that allow individuals to stay safe in cyberspace without requiring advanced computing skills to configure their antivirus, and enables enterprise IT teams to manage organisational cybersecurity quickly and easily. Additionally, the company understands that both individuals and businesses need to use older devices that utilise legacy operating systems which can pose a bigger risk to cybersecurity than currently supported devices. Keseven asserts, “Our light weight protection ensures that such devices are secured against cyberthreats without any degradation in performance.” K7’s customers attach immense value to these features, as proven by their repeated renewals of K7 subscriptions.

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Walking the Extra Mile

Beyond just satisfying customers, K7 Computing also rewards its partners by providing generous incentives throughout the distribution chain to regional distributors, retail outlets, and the field engineers who provide the high touch interaction that end users seek when they require assistance in navigating the digital world. Besides monetary partnership benefits, the company also supports its partners through innovative marketing campaigns, high impact collaterals, and training programmes that help them become familiar with its products and enable them to communicate the benefits and value proposition of its products to their customers.

K7 Computing aims to grow both internationally and within India, scaling aggressively in the years to come. In India, the company is constantly engaging with new partners who have the capacity to reach retailers and end-users and share K7’s vision to create safe digital experiences for every Indian netizen. The company is also expanding its enterprise partnerships to serve a broad spectrum of industries. On the international front, K7 focuses on identifying select partners who have an exceptional understanding of the technology market in the regions they serve, coupled with an extensive network among distribution partners and decision-makers. Keseven concludes, “K7 is also building its online presence to access customers who prefer to discover and engage with brands through digital channels.