Risk & governance
False negative
A system misses something that is genuinely present or risky.
Definition
A false negative is an incorrect negative classification, such as failing to detect fraud, prohibited content or a missing control.
Why it matters
In high-risk processes, a missed event may be more costly than an unnecessary alert and should be weighted accordingly.
Related concepts
- F1 score
A combined measure of precision and recall.
- Critical-error rate
The share of cases containing a failure with severe consequences.
- False positive
A system flags something as present or risky when it is not.