What can be a consequence of improper deprovisioning in a virtualized environment?

In a virtualized environment, improper deprovisioning can lead to data remnants retention, which is the correct choice. When virtual machines (VMs) or associated resources are not properly deprovisioned, remnants of data may still exist on the physical storage or in the virtual infrastructure. This means that sensitive information, such as personal data or proprietary business information, might still be accessible to unauthorized users even after the VM or application is no longer in use.

Data remnants can occur because when VMs are deleted or decommissioned improperly, they may not remove all traces of the data they contained. Attackers can exploit these remnants if they gain access to the underlying storage media, posing a significant risk to data confidentiality and compliance with data protection regulations.

Other options are less relevant to the consequences of improper deprovisioning. For example, data encryption failures typically relate to issues with the actual encryption process, rather than the aftermath of improperly managing VMs. Virtual machine replication is a process that may not necessarily be affected by deprovisioning unless there are failures in managing replication settings. Privilege escalation pertains to unauthorized users gaining higher access levels within a system, which is more an issue of access control rather than a direct consequence of failure in depro