A common symptom of a compromised system is the unauthorized use of system resources, like processing power. This can happen when malicious software, such as a Trojan or a crypto-miner, is clandestinely running on the machine. Considering that the increase in resource usage is unexpected and doesn't align with known tasks or user behavior, it suggests the possibility of malicious activity. In contrast, an application misconfiguration would typically be tied to a recent software change. A malfunctioning cooling system would likely lead to overheating, which could consequently throttle processing capabilities, rather than increase resource utilization. Similarly, pending updates might increase resource use temporarily, but this would be anticipated behavior correlated with the update process.