What does the term "Escalation of privilege" refer to?

The term "Escalation of privilege" refers to the ability to gain higher permissions than authorized. This typically involves a user exploiting vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in a system to gain access to areas or functionalities that should be restricted to higher-level users or administrators. When an individual successfully performs escalation of privilege, they can execute actions that could compromise the security of a system, such as accessing sensitive data, modifying configurations, or even taking control of the entire system. This concept is particularly significant in cybersecurity because it highlights the risks associated with permissions management and the importance of implementing strict access controls to mitigate potential security breaches.

In contrast, the other options focus on different aspects unrelated to privilege escalation. Changing user roles within an organization pertains to user management but does not directly imply unauthorized access. Improving user experience in software and increasing access speed to cloud services relate to usability and performance rather than security vulnerabilities. Thus, recognizing and preventing escalation of privilege is a critical aspect of managing cloud security effectively.