SPLK-5002 Exam Dumps - Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer

Splunk’s REST API allows external applications and security tools to automate workflows, integrate with Splunk, and retrieve/search data programmatically.

✅Why Use REST APIs in Splunk Automation?

Automates interactions between Splunk and other security tools.

Enables real-time data ingestion, enrichment, and response actions.

Used in Splunk SOAR playbooks for automated threat response.

Example:

A security event detected in Splunk ES triggers a Splunk SOAR playbook via REST API to:

Retrieve threat intelligence from VirusTotal.

Block the malicious IP in Palo Alto firewall.

Create an incident ticket in ServiceNow.

❌Incorrect Answers:

A. To configure storage retention policies → Storage is managed via Splunk indexing, not REST APIs.

C. To compress data before indexing → Splunk does not use REST APIs for data compression.

D. To generate predefined reports → Reports are generated using Splunk’s search and reporting functionality, not APIs.

📌Additional Resources:

Splunk REST API Documentation

Automating Workflows with Splunk API

Primary Function of Summary Indexing in Splunk Reporting

Summary indexing allows pre-aggregation of data to improve performance and speed up reports.

✅Why Use Summary Indexing?

Reduces processing time by storing computed results instead of raw data.

Helps SOC teams generate reports faster and optimize search performance.

Example:

Instead of searching millions of firewall logs in real-time, a summary index stores daily aggregated counts of blocked IPs.

❌Incorrect Answers:

A. Storing unprocessed log data → Raw logs are stored in primary indexes, not summary indexes.

C. Normalizing raw data for analysis → Normalization is handled by CIM and data models.

D. Enhancing the accuracy of alerts → Summary indexing improves reporting performance, not alert accuracy.

📌Additional Resources:

Splunk Summary Indexing Guide

Optimizing SIEM Reports in Splunk

When organizations need to normalize event data from various sources, using Common Information Model (CIM) in Splunk is the best approach.

Why Use CIM for Normalized Event Data?

Standardizes Data Across Different Log Sources

CIM ensures consistent field names and formats across varied log types.

Makes searches, reports, and dashboards easier to manage.

Enables Faster and More Efficient Searches

Uses Data Models to accelerate search queries.

Reduces the need for custom field extractions.

How to Improve Dashboard Accuracy in Splunk?

🔹1. Using Accelerated Data Models (Answer A)✅Increases search speedand ensuresdashboards load faster.✅Provides pre-processed structured dataforreal-time analysis.✅Example:ASOC dashboard tracking failed loginsuses an accelerated authentication data model forfaster rendering.

🔹2. Performing Regular Data Validation (Answer C)✅Ensures that the indexed data is accurate and complete.✅Prevents misleading dashboardscaused by incomplete logs or incorrect field extractions.✅Example:If afirewall log source stops sending data, regular validation detects missing logsbefore analysts rely on incorrect dashboards.

Why Not the Other Options?

❌B. Avoiding token-based filters– Tokensimprovedashboard flexibility; avoiding themreduces usability.❌D. Disabling drill-down features– Drill-downsenhance insightsby allowing analysts to investigate details easily.

References & Learning Resources

📌Splunk Dashboard Performance Optimization: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Viz/Dashboards 📌Using Data Models for Fast and Accurate Dashboards: https://splunkbase.splunk.com 📌Regular Data Validation for SOC Dashboards: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/security

Why Use Index-Time Transformations for One-Time Parsing & Indexing?

Splunk parses and indexes data once during ingestion to ensure efficient storage and search performance. Index-time transformations ensure that logs are:

✅Parsed, transformed, and stored efficiently before indexing.✅Normalized before indexing, so the SOC team doesn’t need to clean up fields later.✅Processed once, ensuring optimal storage utilization.

💡Example of Index-Time Transformation in Splunk:🚀Scenario: The SOC team needs to mask sensitive data in security logs before storing them in Splunk.✅Solution: Use anINDEXED_EXTRACTIONSrule to:

Redact confidential fields (e.g., obfuscate Social Security Numbers in logs).

Rename fields for consistency before indexing.

Aligning security processes with frameworks likeNIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF)orMITRE ATT&CKprovides astructured approach to threat detection and response.

Benefits of Using Common Security Methodologies:

Enhancing Organizational Compliance (A)

Helps organizationsmeet regulatory requirements(e.g., NIST, ISO 27001, GDPR).

Ensuresconsistent security controlsare implemented.

Ensuring Standardized Threat Responses (C)

MITRE ATT&CK providesa common language for adversary techniques.

ImprovesSOC workflows by aligning detection and response strategies.

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.

If there is a delay in data being indexed from a remote location, even though the Universal Forwarder (UF) is correctly configured, the issue is likely a queue blockage or network latency.

Steps to Diagnose and Fix Forwarder Delays:

Check Forwarder Logs (splunkd.log) for Queue Issues (A)

Look for messages likeTcpOutAutoLoadBalancedorQueue is full.

If queues are full, events are stuck at the forwarder and not reaching the indexer.

Monitor Forwarder Health Usingmetrics.log

Useindex=_internal source=*metrics.log* group=queueto check queue performance.