What explains the degradation in system performance and alerts regarding high central processing unit (CPU) usage?

High central processing unit (CPU) usage often correlates with processes demanding significant computational resources, leading to degradation in system performance. Outdated anti-malware signatures can indeed contribute to this issue. When these signatures are not updated, the security software may struggle to effectively identify and mitigate malicious software, which can cause increased CPU load as the system attempts to scan suspicious files or processes that may be consuming resources.

Malware can often run parallel processes that strain CPU resources, leading to alerts indicating high CPU usage. If the anti-malware solution is relying on outdated definitions, it may not recognize newer threats, leading to a cycle of increased resource consumption as these threats proliferate within the system. Thus, maintaining updated anti-malware signatures is crucial for ensuring optimal system performance while mitigating the risks associated with malware.

In contrast, while the other options could cause performance problems, they do not directly tie to the specific issue of high CPU usage in the same manner. For instance, firewall misconfigurations typically impact network interactions rather than CPU loads, overly permissive WAF rules can lead to security risks but won't necessarily spike CPU usage directly, and incorrect file permissions generally relate to access issues rather than direct CPU performance degradation.