WSJ via MSN: “It’s getting harder to outsmart the digital minders at work. The rise of remote work and, in turn, employee-monitoring software sparked a boom in mouse and keyboard jigglers and other hacks to help staffers fake computer activity—often so they can step away to do laundry or a school pickup. Now some companies are cracking down on the subterfuge, deploying tools that can better spot the phony busywork. The latest salvo in this productivity-tracking arms race came in a recent regulatory filing from Wells Fargo. In the disclosure, first reported on by Bloomberg News, the bank said it had fired more than a dozen employees in its wealth and investment management unit for allegedly simulating keyboard activity to create the “impression of active work.” Wells Fargo declined to say exactly how it detected the suspicious activity or whether the workers were remote, only that it “does not tolerate unethical behavior.” Across Reddit and other social-media forums, the report sparked angst, and questions. “Anyone else concerned?” wrote one Reddit user. Another, more to the point, asked: “Can IT detect my mouse jiggler?” The answer, increasingly, is yes. The share of companies using some kind of electronic worker-surveillance system surged during the pandemic, reaching nearly 50% in 2023, according to a survey of nearly 300 medium to large employers by research and advisory firm Gartner. These systems, which track how active workers are at their computers, have long been able to detect some installed software or extra hardware. More of these software systems, such as Teramind and Hubstaff, now also use machine-learning tools that can identify repetitive cursor movements or irregular patterns in someone’s computer activity. In addition, some worker-monitoring software can randomly scrape screen images to check whether screen activity is changing as the computer mouse moves…”