Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer (SPLK-5002)

Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer (SPLK-5002) 

The Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer certification has been developed to validate your ability to design, engineer, and optimize defense mechanisms within a Security Operations Center (SOC) using Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) and Splunk SOAR. This certification demonstrates your skill in automating incident response, tuning detections, and applying best practices for threat intelligence integration and data management. It’s ideal for professionals seeking to move beyond analysis into advanced security engineering — where detection logic, automation, and analytics converge to strengthen enterprise defense.

Who should take this Exam?

• Professionals aiming to advance from analysis to engineering roles in cybersecurity will find this certification a strong stepping stone. It signals readiness for higher-level SOC and defense responsibilities.
• For those working in or managing SOC environments, this certification validates expertise in optimizing Splunk Enterprise Security and Splunk SOAR to streamline detections, investigations, and response workflows.
• Ideal for security analysts, incident responders, and engineers who want to deepen their technical understanding of Splunk’s detection, automation, and orchestration capabilities.
• A great option for administrators looking to upskill into cybersecurity engineering roles and design efficient, automated SOC operations.

Skills Required

To succeed in this certification, candidates should be comfortable with:

• Using Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) and Splunk SOAR for detection and response.
• Writing and tuning correlation searches and detection rules.
• Managing data ingestion, indexing, and normalization in Splunk.
• Understanding risk-based alerting (RBA) and contextual detection models.
• Automating tasks and workflows using SOAR playbooks and REST APIs.
• Developing metrics, dashboards, and reports for SOC visibility.
• Applying threat intelligence and behavioral analytics for proactive defense.

Exam Domains 

The Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer (SPLK-5002) Exam covers the following topics - 

• Domain 1 - Understand Data Engineering (10%)
• Domain 2 - Understand Detection Engineering (40%)
• Domain 3 - Understand Building Effective Security Programs (20%)
• Domain 4 - Understand Automation and Efficiency (20%)
• Domain 5 - Understand Auditing and Reporting (10%)