- A
False positives
Correct: Legitimate traffic flagged as malicious are false positives.
- B
Noise
Why wrong: Incorrect: Noise generally refers to irrelevant data, but false positives are a specific type.
- C
False negatives
Why wrong: Incorrect: False negatives are when malicious activity is not detected.
- D
True positives
Why wrong: Incorrect: True positives are correctly identified malicious activity.
Question 936 of 1,000
SSCP Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis Practice Question
This SSCP practice question tests your understanding of risk identification, monitoring, and analysis. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
After implementing a new IDS, the security team receives numerous alerts about legitimate traffic being flagged as malicious. This phenomenon is known as:
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
False positives
A false positive occurs when the IDS incorrectly classifies legitimate traffic as malicious, generating an alert for benign activity. This is a common issue after deploying a new IDS with default or overly sensitive signature sets, leading to alert fatigue. The core reasoning is that the IDS's detection logic (e.g., pattern matching or anomaly thresholds) misidentifies normal behavior as an attack.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
False positives
Why this is correct
Correct: Legitimate traffic flagged as malicious are false positives.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Noise
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Noise generally refers to irrelevant data, but false positives are a specific type.
- ✗
False negatives
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: False negatives are when malicious activity is not detected.
- ✗
True positives
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: True positives are correctly identified malicious activity.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse 'false positives' with 'noise' (Option B), but noise is a broader category that includes false positives as well as other irrelevant alerts, while the question specifically describes legitimate traffic being flagged as malicious, which is the precise definition of a false positive.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, IDS false positives often stem from signature-based detection engines that match packet payloads against static patterns (e.g., Snort rules) without considering context like protocol state or application behavior. For example, a rule looking for the string 'cmd.exe' in HTTP traffic may trigger on legitimate file downloads, requiring tuning of thresholds or whitelisting. In real-world scenarios, false positives can overwhelm SOC analysts, leading to missed true positives if the system is not calibrated using baseline traffic analysis.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SSCP question test?
Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis — This question tests Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: False positives — A false positive occurs when the IDS incorrectly classifies legitimate traffic as malicious, generating an alert for benign activity. This is a common issue after deploying a new IDS with default or overly sensitive signature sets, leading to alert fatigue. The core reasoning is that the IDS's detection logic (e.g., pattern matching or anomaly thresholds) misidentifies normal behavior as an attack.
What should I do if I get this SSCP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This SSCP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SSCP exam.
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