When tuning security alerts, what is the best approach?

Tuning to reduce both false positives and false negatives is the correct goal because each type of error introduces a distinct operational risk. Excessive false positives cause alert fatigue, leading analysts to ignore or suppress alerts and potentially miss real incidents. Excessive false negatives mean genuine threats pass undetected - so the optimal tuning process continuously refines thresholds and detection rules to balance sensitivity and specificity across both error dimensions.

Increasing both false positives and false negatives simultaneously worsens the signal-to-noise ratio and blinds the security team to real threats, making the monitoring program less effective.

Decreasing only false positives by loosening detection rules risks a corresponding rise in false negatives, allowing real attacks to evade detection unnoticed.

Decreasing only false negatives by tightening detection rules typically increases false positives, creating alert fatigue that causes analysts to become desensitized and miss genuine threats.