A false security alert on Suffolk County's IT systems has raised concerns about another attempted cyberattack. The alert was determined not to be valid and Team 12 Investigates has learned that these types of false positives are a problem in mostly all detection systems.

A Suffolk County spokesperson said they received an Active Directory alert in early January. The alert could mean an attacker is attempting to gain access to an organization's domain.

After a thorough investigation, the county determined that the alert was a false alarm and its IT department said false positives are quite common.

"The County's security measures block hundreds of different types of possible suspicious activities on a daily basis and tens of thousands on a monthly basis," a county spokesperson explained.

It is not surprising that the alert was present and deemed innocent. False positives exist to keep detection systems effective in order to ensure a real attack cannot slip through security systems undiscovered.

County officials said it is unclear as to what triggered the false positive alert, but given the ongoing investigation into the September cyberattack, they wanted to assure people that there has not been another data breach.