The Truth About False Positives in Embedded Security & How to Eliminate Them
Discover how to reduce false positives in embedded security with reachability analysis, EPSS scoring, and triage, so your team focuses on exploitable risks.
Robert Kelley
In cybersecurity, false positives are more than just a nuisance; they’re a threat in their own right. Every minute your team spends chasing an issue that turns out to be a ghost is time not spent fixing real vulnerabilities.
For embedded device manufacturers, this problem is especially acute. When your security tools flag every reused library, hardcoded string, or “possible” vulnerability as critical, it becomes nearly impossible to triage what actually matters.
Reducing false positives is one of the most important steps toward maturing your product security posture.
“Noise kills focus. In embedded systems, the signal-to-noise ratio can be brutal. The only way to move fast and fix the right things is to cut that noise way down.”
Why False Positives Are So Common in Embedded Security
Unlike modern cloud-native applications, embedded and IoT systems are built with:
Traditional AppSec tools often can’t tell the difference between a reachable, exploitable issue and one buried in unused code or inaccessible paths. That leads to alert fatigue and missed real threats.
How Finite State Helps You Cut Through the Noise
Finite State combines human expertise and purpose-built tools to filter out noise and surface what truly matters:
Reachability Analysis: Our platform analyzes control flow and data flow to determine whether a vulnerability can actually be reached during execution—not just whether it exists in a dependency.
Exploit Intelligence & EPSS Scoring: We enrich vulnerabilities with real-world threat data: known exploits, threat actor activity, and EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) likelihood. This helps you focus on what’s likely to be targeted.
Services-Led Triage: When things still aren’t clear, our Services team steps in. We manually inspect binaries, debug interfaces, and test exploit paths to confirm whether an issue is valid—and actionable.
Unified Risk View: We correlate findings from SAST, SCA, and binary analysis in a single platform, so you can see which issues are duplicated, benign, or already mitigated elsewhere.
Why It Matters
Stop wasting time on phantom threats: Focusing on real, reachable vulnerabilities shortens triage cycles and improves remediation velocity.
Reduce alert fatigue: When engineers trust the findings, they respond faster—and with less resistance.
Improve audit readiness and defensibility: Fewer false positives = cleaner reports = better posture with regulators, partners, and customers.
Focus your energy where it counts: Your team has limited time. Make sure they’re spending it on high-impact risks—not false alarms.
Take Control of Your Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Whether you’re overwhelmed with CVE reports or need help validating firmware risks, Finite State can help you focus, prioritize, and eliminate the distractions.
Robert Kelley
Robert is Services Lead and a Senior Penetration Tester at Finite State, with deep experience spanning offensive and defensive security. He’s led high-impact cybersecurity initiatives at organizations like Raytheon, the Federal Reserve, and Synopsys, bringing expertise in embedded systems, DoD frameworks, and tailored risk-driven solutions. Known for bridging red and blue team roles, Robert takes a holistic, mission-focused approach to securing critical systems.
