Splunk SPLK-5002 Practice Test - Questions Answers, Page 5

Key Elements of Security Program Documentation

A security program's documentation ensures consistency, compliance, and efficiency in cybersecurity operations.

Why Include Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)?

Defines step-by-step processes for security tasks.

Ensures security teams follow standardized workflows for handling incidents, vulnerabilities, and monitoring.

Supports compliance with regulations like NIST, ISO 27001, and CIS controls.

Example:

SOP for incident response outlines how analysts escalate security threats.

Incorrect Answers:

A . Vendor contract details Vendor agreements are important but not core to a security program's documentation.

B . Organizational hierarchy chart Useful for internal structure but not essential for security documentation.

D . Financial cost breakdown Related to budgeting, not security operations.

Additional Resources:

NIST Security Documentation Framework

Splunk Security Operations Guide

Critical Elements of an Effective Incident Report

An incident report documents security breaches, outlines response actions, and provides prevention strategies.

1. Timeline of Events (A)

Provides a chronological sequence of the incident.

Helps analysts reconstruct attacks and understand attack vectors.

Example:

08:30 AM -- Suspicious login detected.

08:45 AM -- SOC investigation begins.

09:10 AM -- Endpoint isolated.

2. Steps Taken to Resolve the Issue (C)

Documents containment, eradication, and recovery efforts.

Ensures teams follow response procedures correctly.

Example:

Blocked malicious IPs, revoked compromised credentials, and restored affected systems.

3. Recommendations for Future Prevention (E)

Suggests security improvements to prevent future attacks.

Example:

Enhance SIEM correlation rules, enforce multi-factor authentication, or update firewall rules.

Incorrect Answers:

B . Financial implications of the incident Important for executives, not crucial for an incident report.

D . Names of all employees involved Avoids exposing individuals and focuses on security processes.

Additional Resources:

Splunk Incident Response Documentation

NIST Computer Security Incident Handling Guide

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

Monitoring indexing performance in Splunk is crucial for ensuring efficient data ingestion, search performance, and resource utilization.

Methods to Monitor Indexing Performance Effectively:

Use the Monitoring Console (A)

Provides real-time visibility into indexing performance.

Displays resource utilization, indexing rate, queue health, and disk usage.

Track Indexer Queue Size and Throughput (D)

Monitoring queue sizes prevents indexing bottlenecks.

Ensures data is processed efficiently without delays.

Incorrect Answers: B. Create correlation searches on indexed data -- Correlation searches focus on security events, not indexing performance. C. Enable detailed event logging for indexers -- Increases log volume but does not directly help monitor indexing performance.

Splunk Monitoring Console Overview

Best Practices for Monitoring Splunk Indexing Performance

Aligning security processes with frameworks like NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) or MITRE ATT&CK provides a structured approach to threat detection and response.

Benefits of Using Common Security Methodologies:

Enhancing Organizational Compliance (A)

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

Ensures consistent security controls are implemented.

Ensuring Standardized Threat Responses (C)

MITRE ATT&CK provides a common language for adversary techniques.

Improves SOC workflows by aligning detection and response strategies.

Incorrect Answers: B. Accelerating data ingestion rates -- Frameworks focus on security processes, not data ingestion speed. D. Improving incident response metrics -- While methodologies help in structuring responses, the improvement of metrics is an indirect benefit.

NIST Cybersecurity Framework

MITRE ATT&CK Overview

How Splunk Uses MITRE ATT&CK

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.

Incorrect Answers: B. Apply search-time field extractions -- This helps with raw data parsing but does not normalize data across sources. C. Use SPL queries to manually extract fields -- This is a temporary fix and does not provide scalable normalization. D. Configure a summary index -- Helps with performance but does not ensure event normalization.

Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) Documentation

Best Practices for Implementing CIM

How to Improve Splunk's Automation Efficiency?

Splunk's automation capabilities rely on efficient data ingestion, optimized searches, and automated response workflows. The following methods help improve Splunk's automation:

1. Using Modular Inputs (Answer A)

Modular inputs allow Splunk to ingest third-party data efficiently (e.g., APIs, cloud services, or security tools).

Benefit: Improves automation by enabling real-time data collection for security workflows.

Example: Using a modular input to ingest threat intelligence feeds and trigger automatic responses.

2. Optimizing Correlation Search Queries (Answer B)

Well-optimized correlation searches reduce query time and false positives.

Benefit: Faster detections Triggers automated actions in SOAR with minimal delay.

Example: Using tstats instead of raw searches for efficient event detection.

3. Employing Prebuilt SOAR Playbooks (Answer E)

SOAR playbooks automate security responses based on predefined workflows.

Benefit: Reduces manual effort in phishing response, malware containment, etc.

Example: Automating phishing email analysis using a SOAR playbook that extracts attachments, checks URLs, and blocks malicious senders.

Why Not the Other Options?

C. Leveraging saved search acceleration -- Helps with dashboard performance, but doesn't directly improve automation. D. Implementing low-latency indexing -- Reduces indexing lag but is not a core automation feature.

Reference & Learning Resources

Splunk SOAR Automation Guide: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/SOAR Optimizing Correlation Searches in Splunk ES: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/ES Prebuilt SOAR Playbooks for Security Automation: https://splunkbase.splunk.com