Splunk SPLK-5002 Exam Questions

Automating case management workflows in Splunk streamlines incident response and reduces manual overhead, allowing analysts to focus on higher-value tasks.

Main Benefits of Automating Case Management:

Reduces Response Times (C)

Automatically assigns cases to analysts based on predefined rules.

Triggers playbooks and workflows in Splunk SOAR to handle common incidents.

Improves Analyst Productivity (C)

Reduces time spent on manual case creation and updates.

Provides integrated case tracking across Splunk and ITSM tools (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira).

Incorrect Answers: A. Eliminating the need for manual alerts -- Alerts still require analyst verification and triage. B. Enabling dynamic storage allocation -- Case management does not impact Splunk storage. D. Minimizing the use of correlation searches -- Correlation searches remain essential for detection, even with automation.

Splunk Case Management Best Practices

Automating Incident Response with Splunk SOAR

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 like TcpOutAutoLoadBalanced or Queue is full.

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

Monitor Forwarder Health Using metrics.log

Use index=_internal source=*metrics.log* group=queue to check queue performance.

Incorrect Answers: B. Increase the indexer memory allocation -- Memory allocation does not resolve forwarder delays. C. Optimize search head clustering -- Search heads manage search performance, not forwarder ingestion. D. Reconfigure the props.conf file -- props.conf affects event processing, not ingestion speed.

Splunk Forwarder Troubleshooting Guide

Monitoring Forwarder Queue Performance

Why Use Risk-Based Dashboards for Tracking Threat Trends?

Risk-based dashboards in Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) provide a structured way to track threats over time.

How Risk-Based Dashboards Help: Aggregate security events into risk scores Helps prioritize high-risk activities. Show historical trends of threat activity. Correlate multiple risk factors across different security events.

Example in Splunk ES: Scenario: A SOC team tracks insider threat activity over 6 months. The Risk-Based Dashboard shows:

Users with rising risk scores over time.

Patterns of malicious behavior (e.g., repeated failed logins + data exfiltration).

Correlation between different security alerts (e.g., phishing clicks malware execution).

Why Not the Other Options?

A. Event sampling -- Helps with performance optimization, not threat trend tracking. C. Summary indexing -- Stores precomputed data but is not designed for tracking risk trends. D. Data model acceleration -- Improves search speed, but doesn't track security trends.

Reference & Learning Resources

Splunk ES Risk-Based Alerting Guide: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/ES Tracking Security Trends Using Risk-Based Dashboards: https://splunkbase.splunk.com How to Build Risk-Based Analytics in Splunk: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/security

How to Reduce False Positives in Correlation Searches?

High false positives can overwhelm SOC teams, causing alert fatigue and missed real threats. The best solution is to fine-tune suppression rules and refine thresholds.

How Suppression Rules & Threshold Tuning Help: Suppression Rules: Prevent repeated false positives from low-risk recurring events (e.g., normal system scans). Threshold Refinement: Adjust sensitivity to focus on true threats (e.g., changing a login failure alert from 3 to 10 failed attempts).

Example in Splunk ES: Scenario: A correlation search generates too many alerts for failed logins. Fix: SOC analysts refine detection thresholds:

Suppress alerts if failed logins occur within a short timeframe but are followed by a successful login.

Only trigger an alert if failed logins exceed 10 attempts within 5 minutes.

Why Not the Other Options?

A. Increase the frequency of the correlation search -- Increases search load without reducing false positives. C. Disable the correlation search temporarily -- Leads to blind spots in detection. D. Limit the search to a single index -- May exclude critical security logs from detection.

Reference & Learning Resources

Splunk ES Correlation Search Optimization Guide: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/ES Reducing False Positives in SOC Workflows: https://splunkbase.splunk.com Fine-Tuning Security Alerts in Splunk: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/security

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