Microsoft has announced a significant enhancement to security event handling in Microsoft Teams by introducing a feature that allows users to report false positives on messages flagged as potential threats. The move is designed to strengthen Teams’ threat detection system while reducing the friction caused by misidentified alerts.
By enabling users to directly report messages that were incorrectly labeled as malicious, Microsoft’s latest update seeks to improve the accuracy of its threat detection and response mechanisms. This enhancement is particularly relevant for security teams who rely on automated alerts to triage potential threats but must frequently wade through false alarms.
False-Positive Reporting Adds User Input to Security Logic
The false-positive reporting feature reflects Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to integrate user feedback into its security infrastructure. It will initially roll out just for chat messages flagged and quarantined by Microsoft Defender for Office 365 — the security service responsible for detecting phishing and malware threats across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
User Feedback Loop Aims to Reduce Alert Fatigue
When a message is flagged by Defender in Teams and moved to quarantine, users will now be able to manually report it as a false positive. Previously, there was no direct way for end users or administrators to override these automatic detections from within Teams. This gap often led to productivity issues, especially when critical business communications were mistakenly blocked.
By allowing users to proactively inform the system about incorrect classifications, Microsoft is effectively crowd-sourcing threat accuracy improvements. Security teams can then review feedback submitted by users and incorporate it into analytics and policy updates.
“This feature helps us train our detection models based on real user input,” wrote Microsoft in its update announcement. “It reduces the likelihood of incorrectly blocked messages going unnoticed or unaddressed.”
Defender for Office 365 Will Process Reports Automatically
The false-positive feedback mechanism connects directly into Microsoft Defender’s analytics engine. Submitted reports about benign messages that were mistakenly flagged will be processed automatically. Over time, this should help refine the algorithms driving Microsoft Defender’s threat classification models.
From a user experience perspective, the Teams interface will show a clear option for reporting false positives next to quarantined messages. Administrators will also gain access to a centralized view of all user-submitted feedback for further review and triage.
Strengthening Teams’ Role in Enterprise Security
This update aligns closely with Microsoft’s broader intent to unify threat detection across Microsoft 365 applications and improve security-monitoring tools like Microsoft Defender XDR (Extended Detection and Response).
Integrated Detection Gets Smarter With Feedback Loops
In multi-layered threat defense setups, automated classifiers often produce a high volume of false-positive alerts. Without tuning, this can overwhelm analysts and reduce visibility into true threats. Microsoft’s initiative in Teams represents a shift toward more participatory security — one where humans validate and refine machine-generated insights.
The new reporting feature could significantly support:
- Faster turnarounds for remediating blocked communications
- Improved alert accuracy by reducing false-positive rates
- Greater control for administrators to adjust policy configurations based on feedback trends
Organizations adopting this update can now expect more accurate enforcement of anti-phishing and anti-malware policies within Teams, as Defender for Office 365 gains deeper behavioral insight from daily user interactions.
Update Timelines and Administrator Considerations
The false-positive reporting feature is scheduled for general availability in July 2024, according to Microsoft’s roadmap. Once deployed, enterprises using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 with Teams security integration will automatically gain access to the new feature.
Admins should:
- Review reporting permissions and ensure proper user training
- Monitor false-positive trend data surfaced by Defender dashboards
- Adjust filtering rules to align with verified signals from user feedback
IT and security teams may also want to update their internal communications about what employees should do when encountering a quarantined message in Teams, now that a reporting path is in place.
A More Secure and User-Aligned Teams Environment
With this rollout, Microsoft continues to blur the lines between IT-driven control and user-driven insights in the security sphere. By embedding feedback loops directly into Teams’ user interface, it enhances both the precision of Microsoft Defender’s threat intelligence and the operational resilience of communication apps in enterprise environments.
As Teams continues to grow as a primary workspace hub, ensuring that its built-in security layers are both accurate and responsive will be an essential factor for CISOs and InfoSec teams. This update is a step toward that balance — helping organizations manage risk while maintaining trust in collaborative platforms.
