What term describes a detection failure where an actual threat is not flagged?

A false negative refers to a detection failure in which a legitimate threat goes unrecognized, meaning that a potential security issue occurs, but the detection system fails to identify it. This can be particularly dangerous because it gives the impression that there are no security issues present when, in fact, there is an ongoing threat that could lead to damage or data breaches.

In contrast, a false positive occurs when a benign event is incorrectly identified as a threat, which can lead to unnecessary alerts and resource allocation to investigate non-existent issues. A security lapse generally refers to a failure in adherence to security protocols rather than specifically to a detection failure. Detection error is a more general term that can encompass both false positives and false negatives but does not specifically define the failure of not flagging an actual threat. Therefore, identifying a failure to flag a real threat as a false negative captures the essence of the term accurately.