Employee replaces 24/7 surveillance software on company computer with file that can't be opened: 'I'm probably not gonna get fired'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 9, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

A debate has begun: did this guy do something bad enough to get canned from their job, or did they just find a clever life-hack? 

This debate comes up every now and then. Just how far can you push things at your job before HR starts looking at you sideways? One of these hot-button topics was when mouse jigglers became popular. At a time when tons of people worked remotely, their bosses would install spyware on their computers, tracking mouse movements and key strokes. Some people bought (or rigged) mouse jigglers, which are just little machines that constantly move a computer mouse around. That way, the boss can look at your metrics and think you're working hard, but in reality, you're doing a load of laundry or making a meal for the kids. As a worker, this seems like a win-win situation. Your boss gets metrics that show that you're dedicated, and you get to work at your own pace (and presumably you'll do a good job, just using fewer hours of the day to grind away at your desk). But of course, some people literally get fired for doing this, since it is deceptive, after all. 

This person is in a similar predicament. They don't even seem to mind that they're being monitored by their bosses, and honestly, in this day and age, you should probably just assume that you are being digitally monitored in some way. This guy is just frustrated that it's taking up a huge chunk of their RAM — it had to go! 

Check out the full story below, as well as the doubters in the comments — some think this guy is toast, while others think they can play dumb and get away with whatever they want to. 

Up next, read about the spouse who took a couple hours to bake a casserole, only for their husband to leave the dish out overnight, and yet the internet sided with the husband: "He did that on purpose, and I don't blame him." 

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  • 01
    Woman in pink blouse holding white coffee mug looks at laptop computer while in office setting
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    "I replaced the program my employer uses to track what you do on your PC with a dummy .exe that can't open"

    I'm not super concerned with being surveilled personally (my job is more project-driven), but after seeing this spy program consistently taking up a third of my RAM, I decided enough was enough.
    via u/Rakhered
  • 03
    I couldn't disable the service that launches the program itself, but had just enough admin privileges to change the name of the .exe for the program, and copy over another exe with an identical name that doesn't actually open.
    via u/Rakhered
  • 04
    My PC is so much faster now that my screen isn't being recorded 24/7, but man I hope IT doesn't come knocking anytime soon lol
    via u/Rakhered
  • 05
    edit: please stop commenting about how I'm going to get fired. It's quite annoying to see another "you're gonna get fired" comment every 3 hours. I'm probably not gonna get fired, and if I do I'll edit the post again so you can get your rocks off.
    via u/Rakhered
  • 06
    xXSillyHoboXx I would assume at some point IT is gonna be notified by who ever actively checks whatever that software reports to and they'll be asked to fix it. Who knows how long before that happens. I've worked in IT for about 15 years now. I'd check to see why it's not launching. If the exe does not have an icon
    via u/xXSillyHoboXx
  • 07
    that looks right, I'd suspect something is up but don't know how far I'd dig into it. I'd probably figure it got jacked up and try to reinstall/repair it. Can't really say how the uninstaller will handle the dummy exe and the renamed legit exe though.
    via u/xXSillyHoboXx
  • 08
    Most IT are just gonna fix the problem and move on. Unless it's obviously been f ed with, a repeat issue or management really wants details. Software breaks all the time, but when it's constant on one machine, thats when people start poking around.
    via u/xXSillyHoboXx
  • 09
    Beerbelly83 The local IT guy at my workplace a few years ago was great. He let me try out some specialty software to evaluate how helpful it would be. But he was to busy to install them himself. So everytime I did it I had to call him and he would come by and enter his credentials.
    via u/Beerbelly83
  • 10
    After about 20 calls one day he messaged me his credentials and told me to only call if I broke something. And not to tell anyone. Used that for almost a year before he called me and asked about some strange activity main IT had flagged.
    via u/Beerbelly83
  • 11
    PersiusAlloy Make sure to swap it back during lunchtime so IT sees that it's still recording to keep you off their radar.
    via u/PersiusAlloy
  • 12
    Lucifernistic The "spyware" is likely an MDM which is required for compliance and a standard part IT infrastructure. If you did this to one of the systems at my company, we would get notified pretty quickly, and would know instantly the exe was fraudulent based on the checksum. It would take little to no effort to realize what happened.
    via u/Lucifernistic
  • 13
    The first time you did this would be a serious talking to and warning. If you did it again we might consider you a security risk- it's debatable whether we'd straight up lock your laptop but we would definitely be having a conversation with your manager and HR.
    via u/Lucifernistic
  • 14
    That said, the fact you are able to do this in the first place probably means your IT team is either lazy or incompetent.
    via u/Lucifernistic

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