false positive

This term originates from statistics and signal detection theory, describing a Type I error. It carries a connotation of unnecessary alarm or inefficiency, as it represents a failure of specificity in a testing process. In medical contexts, it often implies a period of psychological stress for the patient before a corrective test is performed.

In technical and cybersecurity contexts, the term describes the friction between security and usability. A high rate of false positives can lead to alert fatigue, where users begin to ignore legitimate warnings because the system too frequently flags benign activity as a threat.