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Wells Fargo, one of America’s largest banks, has taken strict action against employees caught ‘mouse moving’ to copy work.
According to media reports, several remote workers have been fired after allegedly simulating keyboard activity to give the impression that they were actively working from home.
Wells Fargo told the BBC it has strict standards and “will not tolerate unethical behavior.”
What are mouse jigglers?
Mouse jigglers are small devices or software programs designed to prevent a computer from going to sleep or activating its screen saver due to inactivity.
They work by simulating small, automatic, and random movements of the mouse cursor at regular intervals, fooling the computer into thinking there is user activity.
How can you detect if someone is using mouse jigglers?
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Check software and devices on company computers for unauthorized apps that could cause mouse movement.
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Observe employees’ responsiveness during working hours. Mouse jigglers cannot mimic human interaction, such as responding to messages or participating in calls.
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Implement certain apps and software to track mouse movements and activity. These tools detect abnormal patterns that may indicate mouse movement usage.
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Inform employees of the risks of using mouse jigglers and implement policies against their use.
Why do people use mouse jigglers?
Employees use mouse gestures when they need to keep their computers active during short breaks or interruptions, such as bathroom breaks or childcare while working remotely. This prevents the computer from showing them as inactive or going into sleep mode.
It’s also useful if they need uninterrupted time to read documents or perform tasks that require constant file access, but they don’t want their screen to go to sleep while they do so.
