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False Positive

What is False Positive?

An alert or detection that incorrectly indicates malicious activity when the activity is actually legitimate. High false positive rates reduce the effectiveness of security monitoring by causing alert fatigue.

Information Security

What the standards actually require on false positive

Requirements naming false positive across 6 standards, quoted from the control text.

Establish a process to create high quality alerts and measure their quality, so analysts prioritise real incidents rather than spending time on false positives.

ASBv3-IR-3 · Detection and analysis - create incidents based on high-quality alerts →
ISO 37003:20252 controls

Use data analytics to detect fraud in proportion to the organization's data and risk: matching and exception tests across payroll, supplier, customer and payment data (duplicate payees, staff who are also suppliers, shared addresses or bank accounts), statisti...

iso-37003-2025::8.3.5 · Data analytics →

Safety is the property of a system that, under defined conditions, keeps it from reaching a state that endangers human life, health, well-being, property or the environment, and AI can bring new safety problems (ISO/IEC 23894 A.10).

iso-iec-42005-2025::6.8.2.7 · Safety →

CSF 2.0 outcome: incidents are declared when adverse events meet the defined incident criteria. Priority High. R1: apply the incident criteria to the known and assumed characteristics of the analyzed activity, taking known false positives into account, to deci...

nist-sp-800-61-rev-3::DE.AE-08 · DE.AE-08 Incidents declared by applying incident criteria →

Deploying a data loss prevention tool on outgoing email must be fully justified to balance the employer's interest with employees' rights, because false positives expose legitimate and personal messages.

article-29-working-party-opinion-2-2017-on-data-processing-at-work-wp249::5.3(f) · 5.3(f) Data loss prevention: transparent rules and a warning before an email is blocked →

The organisation implements signature-based and, or, non-signature-based malicious code protection at entry and exit points, updates it automatically under configuration management, configures periodic scans at a set frequency and real-time scans of external f...

canada-itsp-10-033-security-and-privacy-controls-and-assurance-activities-catalogue::SI-03 · SI-03 Malicious code protection →

Questions people ask about false positive

What is False Positive?
An alert or detection that incorrectly indicates malicious activity when the activity is actually legitimate. High false positive rates reduce the effectiveness of security monitoring by causing alert fatigue.
Why is False Positive important for compliance?
False Positive is a key concept in Information Security. Understanding false positive helps organizations meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk, and demonstrate due diligence during audits. Our compliance platform maps 1,016 frameworks with 316K cross-framework control mappings.
Which compliance frameworks address False Positive?
False Positive appears in the requirement text of Azure Security Benchmark, ISO 37003:2025, ISO/IEC 42005:2025, NIST SP 800-61 Rev. 3, Article 29 Working Party Opinion 2/2017 on Data Processing at Work (WP249). Across these standards we have identified 10 controls that name it directly, each linked to the control text on the compliance platform.
Where can I learn more about False Positive?
Explore our compliance framework pages to see how false positive applies across different standards and regulations. Our implementation guides provide step-by-step guidance, and the compliance platform offers AI-powered analysis of how this concept maps across 1,016 frameworks.

See how False Positive applies across compliance frameworks

Our platform maps 1,016 frameworks with 316K cross-framework control mappings. Explore how this concept is addressed across standards.

Written and maintained by Gerard Blokdyk, The Art of Service.