Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst Practice Exam

The Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst certification is designed for professionals who want to validate their skills and knowledge in using Splunk to detect, investigate, and respond to cybersecurity threats. This certification focuses on the analytical and operational skills required to perform in-depth security analyses and to implement effective defense strategies using Splunk's security solutions. By acquiring this certification, candidates demonstrate their ability to leverage Splunk for threat hunting, incident response, and understanding the security landscape, thereby enhancing their organization's overall cybersecurity posture.
Why is Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst important?

• Validates expertise in using Splunk for cybersecurity defense.
• Enhances skills in detecting and responding to security threats.
• Improves incident response capabilities and threat analysis.
• Increases organizational resilience against cyber threats.
• Demonstrates a commitment to professional development in cybersecurity.
• Provides a competitive edge in job markets focused on security roles.

Who should take the Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst Exam?

• Security Analysts
• Incident Response Analysts
• Cybersecurity Analysts
• Threat Hunters
• Security Operations Center (SOC) Analysts
• IT Security Managers
• Risk and Compliance Officers

Skills Evaluated

Candidates taking the certification exam on the Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst is evaluated for the following skills:

• Proficiency in using Splunk for threat detection and incident response.
• Ability to conduct security investigations and data analysis.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity concepts and frameworks.
• Skills in interpreting security logs and alerts.
• Understanding of incident response methodologies.
• Familiarity with security best practices and compliance requirements.

Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst Certification Course Outline

The Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst Certification covers the following topics -

1. Understanding Cyber Landscape, Frameworks, and Standards (10%)
1.1 Summarize the typical structure of a Security Operations Center (SOC) and delineate the responsibilities of Analysts, Engineers, and Architects.
1.2 Identify prevalent cyber industry controls, standards, and frameworks, and explore how Splunk integrates these frameworks.
1.3 Define fundamental security concepts such as information assurance, encompassing confidentiality, integrity, availability, and basic risk management principles.

2. Understanding Threat and Attack Types, Motivations, and Tactics (20%)
2.1 Recognize common types of cyber threats and attack vectors frequently encountered in the industry.
2.2 Define key terms including supply chain attack, ransomware, registry manipulation, exfiltration, social engineering, DoS, DDoS, botnets, C2 (Command and Control), zero trust, account takeover, email compromise, threat actor, APT (Advanced Persistent Threat), and adversary.
2.3 Identify the various tiers of Threat Intelligence and explore their application in threat analysis.
2.4 Outline the purpose and scope of annotations within Splunk Enterprise Security.
2.5 Define tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and their significance in the cybersecurity domain.

3. Understanding Defenses, Data Sources, and SIEM Best Practices (20%)
3.1 Identify common cyber defense systems, analysis tools, and essential data sources utilized for effective threat analysis.
3.2 Describe best practices for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), and foundational concepts of Splunk Enterprise Security including CIM (Common Information Model), Data Models, data acceleration, Asset and Identity frameworks, and CIM fields used in investigations.
3.3 Explain how Splunk Security Essentials and Splunk Enterprise Security are leveraged to assess data sources, including common sourcetypes for both on-premises and cloud deployments, and methods to locate content for specific sourcetypes.

4. Understanding Investigation, Event Handling, Correlation, and Risk (20%)
4.1 Detail the process of continuous monitoring and the five essential stages of investigation according to Splunk methodologies.
4.2 Explain various analyst performance metrics such as Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) and dwell time.
4.3 Demonstrate proficiency in identifying common event dispositions and correctly assigning them within a security context.
4.4 Define key terms and components of Splunk Enterprise Security, including SPL (Search Processing Language), Notable Events, Risk Notables, Adaptive Response Actions, Risk Objects, and Contributing Events.
4.5 Identify common built-in dashboards available in Enterprise Security and summarize the essential information they present.
4.6 Understand and articulate the essentials of Risk-Based Alerting, the Risk framework, and the process of creating correlation searches within Enterprise Security.

5. Understanding SPL and Efficient Searching (20%)
5.1 Explain essential SPL terms and their application in security analysis, including TSTATS, TRANSACTION, FIRST/LAST, REX, EVAL, FOREACH, LOOKUP, and MAKERESULTS.
5.2 Provide examples of best practices for composing efficient searches within Splunk.
5.3 Identify SPL resources available within Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Security Essentials, and Splunk Lantern.

6. Understanding Threat Hunting and Remediation (10%)
6.1 Identify various threat hunting techniques, including configuration, anomaly modeling, indicator-based analytics, and behavioral analytics.
6.2 Define long tail analysis, outlier detection, and outline common steps involved in hypothesis hunting using Splunk.
6.3 Determine appropriate scenarios for employing adaptive response actions and configure them accordingly.
6.4 Explain the use of SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) playbooks and enumerate basic methods for triggering them from within Splunk Enterprise Security.