The online world of ROM can be tempting, promising a treasure trove or retro games at the click of a button. Several websites provide customised ROM to meet your gaming requirements.
Hexrom is one such website where you can search and download ROMs. The website offers GBA ROMs, SENS ROMs, NDS ROMs, and GBC ROMs, among others, alongwith the emulators.
But is Hexrom safe? Many users have asked this question on several online forums on the internet. In this article, we’ll analyse Hexrom and provide an answer to this question.
Also read: Is RoPro safe?[1]
Safety assessment of Hexrom
In this section, we’ll conduct a safety assessment of Hexrom:
Preliminary assessment via VirusTotal
We started by analysing the website via Virustotal, and it looked safe. VirusTotal reported two trackers on the Hexrom website: Google Analytics and Google AdSense.
Privacy policy assessment
Next, we checked Hexrom’s privacy policy. Here’s the information Hexrom collected if you contact the team directly or during the sign-up process on the website.
- Your name
- Address
- Telephone number
- Additional information about the attachments
- IP addresses, browser type, ISP, number of clicks and visited pages
Hexrom processes this data for:
- Operating and managing the website.
- Tracking the user behaviour while they are navigating the website.
- Using the user-analytics to develop new products.
- Contact the user via email and provide customer service.
- Stopping spam and fraud.
Hexrom does share cookies with the advertisers. So, we advise users to read the privacy policy of each advertiser. Currently, only one advertising partner, Google, is working with Hexarom.
Hexrom complies with the CCPA Privacy Rights and GDPR, and as such, you can enquire about the data collected by Hexrom.
As far as the privacy policy is concerned, we do not find dubious or suspicious entries.
Using third-party websites to analyse Hexrom
Let us head to some of the well-known anti-scam websites to test Hexrom.
Scamadvisor
Scamadvisor, a popular website that people use to identify online scams, has given a Trustscore of 100/100 to Hexrom.
According to Scamadvisor, “Hexrom is very likely not a scam but legit and reliable.” Hexrom has a valid SSL certificate, old domain registration, and no phishing or malware.
Scam Detector
Another similar website, Scam Detector, gives a rating of 50.4/100 to Hexrom and brands it questionable.
As the above examples show, only one website has tagged Hexrom as somewhat dubious. In the next section, we’ll analyse Hexrom’s safety.
Also read: Is Quitt.net safe?[2]
Should you download ROMs from Hexrom?
Whenever you look at any thread talking about the safety of Hexrom[3], there will always be positive and negative reviews of the website.
For instance, here is a review of a user DemianMedina:
“Just tested it, and yes I got the content I was seeking. So yes, it’s legit. Remember to use an adblocker or you won’t have a very good experience browsing unknow sites.”
On the other hand, here is a comment by SpiralDJ on the same thread:
“Stay away. While you might get the ROM, another tab will also open and download an iso titled with the same name as the ROM. The iso is in fact a trojan virus called energy.exe. I almost lost my PC to it.”
Our analysis is that you should install antivirus software on your device and download only those ROMs that you have full confidence in. You can visit several forums about the emulators or ROMs and get an idea of whether it is working. Not to mention the legal and ethical implications involved while downloading them.
Just follow the precautions like using an ad-blocker, running regular antivurus scans on your device, and first, getting an idea about the ROMs or emulators beforehand will definitely protect you and your device from harmful trojans.
Also read: How to stay safe from Google Docs spam?[4]
References
- ^ Is RoPro safe? (candid.technology)
- ^ Is Quitt.net safe? (candid.technology)
- ^ any thread talking about the safety of Hexrom (www.reddit.com)
- ^ How to stay safe from Google Docs spam? (candid.technology)