Always stay on the move
In the US, where even more rigid controls are legal, the monitoring of company computers was a hot-button issue long before 2020 and the COVID-19 outbreak. It was the epidemic of bossware that followed the coronavirus pandemic that led to a boom in solutions to limit what companies can find out, according to Vice magazine. Search queries for so-called “mouse mover” and “mouse jiggler” solutions skyrocketed after March 2020, when many desk workers moved from the office to home at the start of the pandemic — and have remained consistently high ever since.
The virtual shelves of online retailers such as Amazon are also full of plug-and-play mouse mover devices that allow the mouse pointer to be rotated from below, or USB sticks with pre-installed software that mimics mouse movements. By inserting the stick, the computer is tricked into believing that it is an active mouse.
‘Simulation’ software is also available
In some cases, however, you don’t even have to buy a device to imitate a moving mouse. Numerous programs are offered for free on the internet for this purpose. The catch is that employees who need such devices because their employers distrust them so much are unlikely to have admin rights to install new software on a company PC.
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