false alarms
Threats that weren't
False alarms are warnings that turn out to be unwarranted.
A fire alarm triggered by burnt toast is a false alarm.
The term extends to any situation where concern proves unfounded: The chest pains were a false alarm—just indigestion.
In security contexts, false alarms waste resources and breed complacency, as in the fable of the boy who cried wolf.
- cry wolfGive false warnings
- desensitizationReduced response over time
- monitoringOngoing observation of something
- misfireFailure to discharge
- jumped the gunActed prematurely
alert systems · security system · scares · habituation · hoaxes · complacency · better safe than sorry · misinterpretations · mistakes · deception · drills · evacuations · errors · warnings · duds · type I error · beeping · signal interference
- nonproblemsnonissues, trifles, trivia, molehills, small stuff
- aviation crimeshijacking, skyjacking, air piracy, air rage, unruly passenger