Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer SPLK-5002 Exam Practice Test

Answer : B

Splunk SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) helps SOC teams automate threat detection, investigation, and response by integrating security tools and orchestrating workflows.

Primary Purpose of Splunk SOAR:

Automates Security Tasks (B)

Reduces manual efforts by using playbooks to handle routine incidents automatically.

Accelerates threat mitigation by automating response actions (e.g., blocking malicious IPs, isolating endpoints).

Orchestrates Security Workflows (B)

Connects SIEM, threat intelligence, firewalls, endpoint security, and ITSM tools into a unified security workflow.

Ensures faster and more effective threat response across multiple security tools.

Incorrect Answers: A. To accelerate data ingestion -- Splunk SOAR focuses on incident response automation, not data ingestion. C. To improve indexing performance -- Indexing is managed by Splunk Enterprise, not Splunk SOAR. D. To provide threat intelligence feeds -- While SOAR can use threat intelligence, it does not provide them.

Splunk SOAR Overview

Automating Incident Response with Splunk SOAR

Answer : B

What is the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM)?

Splunk's Common Information Model (CIM) is a standardized way to normalize and map event data from different sources to a common field format. It helps with:

Consistent searches across diverse log sources

Faster correlation of security events

Better compatibility with prebuilt dashboards, alerts, and reports

Why is Data Normalization Important?

Security teams analyze data from firewalls, IDS/IPS, endpoint logs, authentication logs, and cloud logs.

These sources have different field names (e.g., ''src_ip'' vs. ''source_address'').

CIM ensures a standardized format, so correlation searches work seamlessly across different log sources.

How CIM Works in Splunk?

Maps event fields to a standardized schema Supports prebuilt Splunk apps like Enterprise Security (ES) Helps SOC teams quickly detect security threats

Example Use Case:

A security analyst wants to detect failed admin logins across multiple authentication systems.

Without CIM, different logs might use:

user_login_failed

auth_failure

login_error

With CIM, all these fields map to the same normalized schema, enabling one unified search query.

Why Not the Other Options?

A. Extract fields from raw events -- CIM does not extract fields; it maps existing fields into a standardized format. C. Compress data during indexing -- CIM is about data normalization, not compression. D. Create accelerated reports -- While CIM supports acceleration, its main function is standardizing log formats.

Reference & Learning Resources

Splunk CIM Documentation: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/CIM How Splunk CIM Helps with Security Analytics: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/solutions/common-information-model.html Splunk Enterprise Security & CIM Integration: https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/263

Answer : D

Splunk prevents duplicate data from being indexed through event parsing, which occurs during the data ingestion process.

How Event Parsing Prevents Duplicate Data:

Splunk's indexer parses incoming data and assigns unique timestamps, metadata, and event IDs to prevent reindexing duplicate logs.

CRC Checks (Cyclic Redundancy Checks) are applied to avoid duplicate event ingestion.

Index-time filtering and transformation rules help detect and drop repeated data before indexing.

Incorrect Answers: A. Data deduplication -- While deduplication removes duplicates in searches, it does not prevent duplicate indexing. B. Metadata tagging -- Tags help with categorization but do not control duplication. C. Indexer clustering -- Clustering improves redundancy and availability but does not prevent duplicates.

Splunk Data Parsing Process

Splunk Indexing and Data Handling

Answer : A, C

An audit report provides an overview of security operations, compliance adherence, and past incidents, helping organizations ensure regulatory compliance and improve security posture.

Key Elements of an Audit Report:

Analysis of Past Incidents (A)

Includes details on security breaches, alerts, and investigations.

Helps identify recurring threats and security gaps.

Compliance Metrics (C)

Evaluates adherence to regulatory frameworks (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, GDPR).

Measures risk scores, policy violations, and control effectiveness.

Incorrect Answers: B. List of unprocessed log data -- Unprocessed logs do not contribute to security insights in an audit report. D. Asset inventory details -- While asset tracking is important, audit reports focus on security and compliance data.

Security Audit Reports Best Practices

Splunk Compliance and Audit Frameworks

Answer : C

Why Use CIM for Field Normalization?

When processing logs from multiple sources with inconsistent field names, the best way to ensure uniformity is to use Splunk's Common Information Model (CIM).

Key Benefits of CIM for Normalization:

Ensures that different field names (e.g., src_ip, ip_src, source_address) are mapped to a common schema.

Allows security teams to run a single search query across multiple sources without manual mapping.

Enables correlation searches in Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) for better threat detection.

Example Scenario in a SOC:

Problem: The SOC team needs to correlate firewall logs, cloud logs, and endpoint logs for failed logins. Without CIM: Each log source uses a different field name for failed logins, requiring multiple search queries. With CIM: All failed login events map to the same standardized field (e.g., action='failure'), allowing one unified search query.

Why Not the Other Options?

A. Create field extraction rules at search time -- Helps with parsing data but doesn't standardize field names across sources. B. Use data model acceleration for real-time searches -- Accelerates searches but doesn't fix inconsistent field naming. D. Configure index-time data transformations -- Changes fields at indexing but is less flexible than CIM's search-time normalization.

Reference & Learning Resources

Splunk CIM for Normalization: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/CIM Splunk ES CIM Field Mappings: https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/263 Best Practices for Log Normalization: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/tips-and-tricks

Answer : A

Improving Threat Intelligence Sharing in an Organization

Threat intelligence enhances cybersecurity by providing real-time insights into emerging threats.

1. Implement a Real-Time Threat Feed Integration (A)

Enables real-time ingestion of threat indicators (IOCs, IPs, hashes, domains).

Helps automate threat detection and blocking.

Example:

Integrating STIX/TAXII, Splunk Threat Intelligence Framework, or a SOAR platform for live threat updates.

Incorrect Answers:

B . Restrict access to external threat intelligence sources Sharing intelligence enhances security, not restricting it.

C . Share raw threat data with all employees Raw intelligence needs analysis and context before distribution.

D . Use threat intelligence only for executive reporting SOC analysts, incident responders, and IT teams need actionable intelligence.

Additional Resources:

Splunk Threat Intelligence Framework

How to Integrate STIX/TAXII in Splunk

Answer : A, C, D

A notable event in Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) represents a significant security detection that requires investigation.

Key Elements of a Good Notable Event: Meaningful Descriptions (Answer A)

Helps analysts understand the event at a glance.

Example: Instead of 'Possible attack detected,' use 'Multiple failed admin logins from foreign IP address'.

Proper Categorization (Answer C)

Ensures events are classified correctly (e.g., Brute Force, Insider Threat, Malware Activity).

Example: A malicious file download alert should be categorized as 'Malware Infection', not just 'General Alert'.

Relevant Field Extractions (Answer D)

Ensures that critical details (IP, user, timestamp) are present for SOC analysis.

Example: If an alert reports failed logins, extracted fields should include username, source IP, and login method.

Why Not the Other Options?

B. Minimal use of contextual data -- More context helps SOC analysts investigate faster.

Reference & Learning Resources

Building Effective Notable Events in Splunk ES: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/ES SOC Best Practices for Security Alerts: https://splunkbase.splunk.com How to Categorize Security Alerts Properly: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/security