What are false positives in the context of an IDS?

False positives in the context of an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) refer to instances where the system incorrectly identifies benign or harmless activity as a threat. This situation arises when legitimate user actions or normal network activity trigger alarm conditions, leading administrators to believe a security breach is occurring when, in fact, none exists.

Managing false positives is critical for maintaining the effectiveness and reliability of an IDS; high rates of false positives can overwhelm security teams, reduce their trust in the system, and lead them to ignore alerts, potentially causing them to overlook genuine threats in the process. Understanding this concept is essential for practitioners, as it directly impacts the practical usability of security measures and incident response processes.