What Is Privilege Escalation?
What to do: Use your everyday (non-administrator) account for normal work, and install updates.
An administrator account can change anything on a computer: install programs, change settings, and see everyone’s files. Privilege escalation is when a harmful program gets that administrator power when it shouldn’t. This happens in one of two ways:
- The program sneaks in through a security hole in your software.
- Someone accidentally gives it permission, for example by clicking Yes on a pop-up without reading it.
How to Protect Yourself
Install updates. They fix the security holes that allow the first kind.
Use a separate everyday account. To prevent the second kind, don’t use an administrator account for everyday work. Use a regular account without administrator powers, with a different password. When something needs administrator access, your computer will ask for the administrator password. That moment makes you stop and think before you approve it.