During an automated vulnerability scan, several alerts are generated, indicating potential security issues. However, upon manual inspection, many of these alerts appear to be false positives. How should the security team handle false positives while ensuring that real threats are not overlooked?

1. Verification: The first step is to verify the alerts. This involves manually checking each alert to confirm whether it is a false positive or a real threat.

2. Tuning the Scanning Tool: If there are many false positives, it may be necessary to adjust the settings of the vulnerability scanning tool. This could involve changing the sensitivity of the tool or updating the tool's threat database to reduce the number of false positives.

3. Risk Assessment: For each verified threat, conduct a risk assessment. This involves determining the potential impact of the threat and the likelihood of it being exploited. This will help prioritize which threats to address first.

4. Remediation: Address the verified threats based on their risk assessment. This could involve patching software, updating firewalls, or changing security protocols.

5. Documentation: Document each step of the process, including the initial alerts, the verification process, the risk assessment, and the remediation steps. This will help in future threat detection and response efforts.

6. Continuous Monitoring: Continue to monitor the system for new alerts. Regularly update and tune the scanning tool to ensure it is effectively identifying threats and minimizing false positives.

7. Training: Train the security team to properly handle false positives and to not overlook real threats. This includes training on the use of the scanning tool, risk assessment techniques, and threat remediation strategies.

Remember, the goal is to minimize false positives without overlooking real threats. This requires a balance between tuning the scanning tool and manually verifying alerts.