What is a potential consequence of not protecting privileged accounts?

The consequence of not protecting privileged accounts is increased risk of cyber attacks. Privileged accounts typically have elevated access rights and permissions, allowing users to make significant changes to systems and access sensitive data. When these accounts are not adequately secured, they become prime targets for malicious actors. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities, employ social engineering tactics, or use credential theft techniques to gain access to these accounts. Once compromised, they can execute harmful actions, such as data breaches, system disruptions, and unauthorized data manipulation, which poses severe risks to an organization's security posture and can lead to extensive financial and reputational damage.

The other options involve improvements or reductions that wouldn't logically connect to the failure in securing privileged accounts. For example, improvement in employee relations or enhanced system performance does not correlate with the security risks posed by compromised privileged accounts. Similarly, while lowered operational costs might seem appealing, ignoring the necessity of securing these accounts is likely to lead to expensive repercussions following a cyber attack.