An exception queue is a manual review path for cases that automation cannot resolve with enough confidence. Instead of forcing a risky automatic decision, the system routes the item to a human analyst, operator, or reviewer who can inspect the evidence and decide the outcome.
In cyber security, exception queues are common in alert triage, identity verification, malware classification, and document processing. They help reduce false positives and prevent dangerous false negatives when an automated rule or model is uncertain. They also create a control point for audit logging, approvals, and escalation. Attackers may try to flood an exception queue with ambiguous inputs to slow defenders down, hide malicious activity in noisy cases, or exploit weak review procedures. Good defenses include clear confidence thresholds, reviewer training, access controls, and tracking how often items enter the queue.