Investigating Device Thefts with CleverControl

Thefts in the workplace may go far beyond stationery. Unfortunately, employees often steal finished products, computer components, funds, etc. Our today's case is another example of a thief in the workplace.

An IT company has been using CleverControl since 2019. At first, the company implemented it to monitor productivity and maintain the discipline of their support and sales teams. Some employees were habitual latecomers: they were at least 20 minutes late to work every day. They knew the manager occasionally checked presence by looking at the online statuses in Discord which they used for in-company communications. The latecomers asked their more disciplined colleagues to turn on their work laptops so their lateness would go unnoticed. To reveal cheaters, the manager configured CleverControl to take a snapshot from the laptop's webcam. Now he could see who turned the computer on and off every day and spot the cheaters right away.

With the Call Recording feature release, the management started to use CleverControl as a quality assessment tool. The program recorded the demos and calls to clients. Call recordings and keystroke logs of conversations helped the manager evaluate employees' work and give recommendations for improvement if necessary.

Most importantly, CleverControl also helped to reveal a theft that could have gone unnoticed otherwise. One of the support technicians complained that his work laptop had broken beyond repair. The device was a few years old and not the best in its class, so its breakdown did not raise any suspicions. The broken laptop was written off, and the employee got a new one. What a surprise it was for the manager when he discovered new logs from the supposedly broken computer on the CleverControl dashboard a day later. The monitoring software still took webcam snapshots at the beginning and the end of the user's session. Webcam snapshots showed a teenage boy in his room, and the rest of the log suggested that he used the laptop for doing homework and playing Minecraft. The manager summoned the support technician the following day. After a long talk, the employee confessed that he had faked the laptop breakdown. His son needed a new computer, and the employee was tight on money and could not afford it. That is why he decided to commit fraud and steal the company-owned device. But he forgot about the monitoring software, and it got him caught. The employee returned the laptop, and then he was fired.

• Call Recording

  Recording demo presentations and support calls allow the management to assess the quality of work of the client support and sales teams.
• Webcam snapshots

  This feature helped the company to detect habitual latecomers and reveal a theft.
• Keystroke logs

  Recorded outgoing chat messages and emails served as a great source of information for employees' work evaluations.