Mouse Jigglers - Yes Really

On the morning drive to work, I wanted to know what I would write about for this week's blog. There was nothing unusual about that, as that happens most weeks. I trawled through the radio stations for inspiration but pulled into work no further forward than when I set off from home.

During a break later in the morning, I spotted a story on the BBC website titled 'Mouse Jigglers' pretending to work' fired by bank'.

'Mouse Jigglers'? What are they? Well, read on.

Wells Fargo Bank, a US banking giant, has sacked several people who, they say, have been faking keyboard activity. This gave the company the impression they were working when they were not.

Two things stick out for me. 

According to the article, 'Mouse Jigglers' can be purchased on Amazon for about $10 and have sold thousands in the last few months. This intrigued me enough to search on Amazon, and they are there. Have a search yourself.

There are several different versions, but they basically do the same thing: They move the mouse, either physically or through the on-screen cursor.

This brings me to my second thought. Presumably, the company has logging software monitoring its workers. Wells Fargo has permitted hybrid working since 2022, when workers were allowed to work from home for some time. 

I have read and seen articles about concerns that employers were employing keylogging software to monitor employees' productivity without their knowledge. This fear has come true.

The BBC article confirms that six workers have resigned or been sacked after being called into the office.

I was discussing the article with a colleague, and they wondered if our work system used a similar one. They probably do. 

These software programs can control security, so our systems have cover. Occasionally, companies aggressively use such software to weed out perceived problems within their workforce. But with better management, the problem wouldn't exist in the first place. 

I had to work from home several times, and I hated it. I took every advantage of going into the office, even if we had to wear masks and stay two metres apart, with all the windows open. Happy days.

Here's the link for the article. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjll01220yeo

Have a great week, everybody.