Due to the increase in remote work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate America is now considering ramping up ways to monitor employee productivity effectively. This is after the South China Morning Post reported that employees are now using devices like mouse jigglers to trick the monitoring systems by keeping their computers active even when they are not actively working. 

This has led to employers taking stricter measures to prevent what they see as "deceptive practices" in remote work environments.

Recently, a major US banking institution dismissed over a dozen employees for allegedly falsifying keyboard activity to appear engaged while inactive. VCPost also shared that Wells Fargo took similar actions, which the company referred to as a move against employee disengagement.

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How Employees Fake Work Activity

Now called "tattleware" or "bossware," these surveillance tools have seen increased adoption since the onset of remote work.

They range from systems that capture screenshots at regular intervals to those tracking keystrokes and even GPS locations, aiming to ensure employees remain productive during work hours.

With these new "strategies," businesses are likely to intensify their efforts to curb the use of tools like mouse jigglers among employees as awareness of these tactics grows. To avert such incidents in their organizations, many are anticipated to implement more stringent monitoring procedures, enhance software detection capabilities, and provide more precise guidelines regarding permissible remote work practices.

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