Detecting Gaming Applications on the System

Gaming applications (such as Game Bar, Solitaire, Xbox plugins, etc.) are generally designed for personal use. In enterprise environments, however, they may not align with business requirements as they can:

• Consume system resources such as CPU, GPU, and bandwidth.

• Introduce potential vulnerabilities if they are not regularly updated.

1. Detecting Gaming Applications

Saner CVEM continuously scans endpoints and raises Posture Anomalies when gaming applications are detected.

Steps to Detect:

1. Navigate to the Posture Anomaly (PA) Dashboard.

2. Locate the anomaly PA-2022-1060 – Gaming applications are installed.
   
   
   

   • This rule triggers whenever known gaming or game-related applications are installed on systems.
     
     
     

3. Review the Summary Section:

   • OS family with the most anomalies (e.g., Windows).

   • Group with the most anomalies (e.g., New Custom Group).

   • Operating System version with the highest anomalies (e.g., Microsoft Windows 11).
     
     

4. Check Posture Anomaly by Device:

   • Lists the hostnames and anomaly counts.

   • Example: node-1 (Windows family) – 4 anomalies.
     
     

5. Review Posture Anomaly by Incidence:

   • Lists detected gaming applications with publisher information.

   • Example:

     • Game Bar (Microsoft Corporation) – 1 device

     • Microsoft.Edge.GameAssist (ms-resource) – 1 device

     • Solitaire & Casual Games (Microsoft Studios) – 1 device

     • Xbox Game Bar Plugin (Microsoft Corporation) – 1 device
       
       

6. Visual dashboards (Group, Family, OS) help identify where such applications are most prevalent.

2. Investigating the Risk

Once anomalies are detected:

• Check if these applications are user-installed or system-bundled defaults.

• Determine business impact: do these apps affect performance, compliance, or productivity?

• Consult with team leads or compliance officers before blocking.