What does the term 'privilege escalation' refer to?

• A. The process of gaining higher access rights than originally granted.
• B. The process of reducing privileges for security.
• C. The process of encrypting data at rest.
• D. The process of auditing user activity.

Answer: (A)

Privilege escalation is when a user or attacker gains higher access rights than those originally granted. This can be vertical (moving from a normal user to an administrator) or horizontal (accessing another account’s privileges with the same level). It often occurs by exploiting software flaws, misconfigurations, weak credentials, or stolen credentials. The other options describe reducing privileges, encrypting data at rest, or auditing activity—things that don’t involve increasing access rights.