What is Splunk in Cyber Security?

Splunk indexes and searches system log files in a sophisticated, scalable, and effective manner. Operational intelligence is developed by analyzing the data generated by the machines. For the most part, Splunk doesn’t need a database to store its data, as it relies on indexing extensively to store the data.

Web-based search, monitoring, and analysis of machine-generated Big Data are the primary uses of Splunk software. A searchable container, Splunk can produce graphs, reports, dashboards, and visualizations by capturing, indexing, and correlating real-time data. It seeks to construct machine-generated data that can recognize trends, produce metrics, diagnose problems, and provide intelligence for business operation purposes across a whole enterprise. Application management, security and compliance, and business and online analytics are just some of the uses for Splunk.

Splunk software makes it simple to find a specific piece of data amid a sea of other, more complex data. In the log files, it’s difficult to tell which configuration is currently operating, as you may have noticed. With Splunk software, it is possible to identify problems with configuration files and see what current configurations are in use.

After discussing “What is Splunk?” it’s time to consider “Why Splunk?” As the IT industry and its machines continue to advance rapidly, one of the most significant issues we face is managing massive amounts of data. Splunk has a critical role to play in dealing with this scenario. With Splunk, anyone can get their hands on machine-generated data that is valuable and worthwhile.

What is Splunk?

SPLUNK is a software platform that enables you to evaluate the machine-generated data gathered from your IT infrastructure and your company’s business processes.

Is it possible to examine the state of a machine in real-time if you have a constant stream of data generated by the machine? Splunk may be able to help. Yes! Certainly. You can better understand how Splunk gathers data by looking at the image below.

Splunk’s central selling point is real-time processing since, while storage devices and computers have improved over time, data movement has remained stagnant. This approach hasn’t progressed, and it’s still the stumbling block for many business operations.

If you already think Splunk is a great tool, you should know that this is just the beginning. To provide your organization with the most satisfactory possible solution, whether system monitoring or data analysis, you can rest guaranteed that the rest of this blog article will keep you glued to your seat.

Splunk’s features include:

Non-security data can be collected across corporate silos and cloud environments for improved investigations and incident response.

Improved security investigations and operational efficiency are possible thanks to the system’s ability to de-duplicate, collect, aggregate, and prioritize threat intelligence gathered from various sources.

Security operations centers, compliance, and security operations can benefit from a modern big data platform that is flexible enough to handle a wide range of security use cases. It can be installed on-premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid environment.

You may improve security operations and respond to assaults and threats faster by using machine learning-detected concerns called “behavioral analytics.”

What are the benefits of using Splunk instead of a standard SIEM?

Traditional SIEM’s drawbacks:

1. No non-essential security information
2. Impossibility to efficiently consume data.
3. The investigating process is too slow.
4. Providing a system that is not scalable and unstable
5. Quite a long and hazy path.
6. The unbroken cycle of life
7. Only available for on-premises use.
8. A use case is not a viable strategy.

Benefits of Splunk

1. Dashboards enhance the user interface.
2. Instantaneous findings for faster troubleshooting
3. Ideal for determining the root of an issue.
4. Create dashboards, graphs, and alerts with this tool.
5. Determine what you’re looking for and investigate further
6. For educated decision making, keep an eye on business metrics. It’s a hybrid of classic SIEM as a Service with artificial intelligence.
7. More efficient use of logs from various sources
8. The system can handle data in a variety of formats.

Splunk data acquired from many sources can be centralized in a single repository.

Splunk’s products include:

Data created by machines can gain operational insights regarding risks, vulnerabilities, security technologies and identity information.

Big data generated by systems, technology infrastructure, and apps can be collected and analyzed using Splunk Enterprise to gain real insight into the security stack of your business.

In Splunk Adaptable Response, the top security vendors work together to improve security operations and cyber defence methods. Splunk Adaptive Response is a framework for adaptive functions.

Splunk’s internal structure consists of the following components:

To construct Splunk, you’ll need the following elements:

1. Splunk forwarder is hefty, while the Universal Forward component is lightweight and pushes log data into the Splunk forwarder. It can be installed either on the server or the client.
2. You can use Splunk’s default load balancer, but you can also use your load balancer.
3. You can gather only error logs, for example, if you use this heavy forward component.
4. To improve Splunk’s search performance, an indexer is utilized to store and index data.
5. The search head serves as a reporting tool and aids in gathering intelligence.
6. It is used for deploying the configuration to the server.
7. Checks the user’s license information. On a per-user and per-volume basis, licensing is handled.

Steps To Using Splunk For Security

For security, get started with Splunk.

So, you’re looking for a platform that makes it easier to manage your security operations daily and alerts you to potential security breaches before they can cause harm? Splunk makes it possible, but some preparatory work has to be done first.

1. What are the following questions you need to ask yourself?
2. What are we attempting to safeguard here? ” If you can be more precise, that’s great!
3. What will we do to keep it safe?
4. What kind of information do we need to make a decision?
5. What are our contingency plans in the event of an attack?

If you don’t know how to begin addressing these questions, you’ll have difficulty putting together a successful platform.

For now, we’ll walk you through the six stages we’d go through together if you decided to use Splunk for security.

Is there a cost to using Splunk?

How much does Splunk cost, and is it available for free after learning about its features and benefits? Yes, that is the solution to your inquiry. Splunk has a free version called Splunk Free. You can index up to 500 MB each day in the free license, and it never expires. It’s a free version, end of the story.

If you want to collect as much information as possible, you can add new records daily. Data added or indexed each day is limited to 500 megabytes (MB). Splunk Free can store up to 10 TB of data by indexing 500 MB of data every day. You’ll need an Enterprise license if you need more than 500 MB each day. Your license consumption is monitored by Splunk Free, which keeps tabs on the number of license infractions. In the 30 days, Splunk Free will continue to index your data if you go over the 500 MB/day limit more than three times, but the search feature will be disabled until you return to receiving no more than three alerts in the 30 days.

How does Splunk Enterprise Security Training differ from other types of security training?

1. You may run Splunk on any public or private cloud using Splunk Operator.
2. You may react to your data in real-time with the help of visual metrics. Analyze logs for search, monitoring and alerting purposes by transforming them into metrics.
3. It is possible to use this training to improve IT, security, and business outcomes. Algorithms can be accessed through integrated technologies and customizable tools, giving you greater control over your data. Predict and avoid rather than react.
4. Improved machine learning and performance capabilities have made it possible for our care and retail teams to have real-time visibility into the performance of their systems and services.
5. Use data from various sources, such as your company’s systems, devices, and interactions, and translate that data into relevant business outcomes for your company.
6. The tech industry uses Splunk extensively. Since Splunk will be a huge hit and is already a huge hit, it offers a lot of career potential.
7. The use of Splunk technology has resulted in high-paying roles and performance-based compensation. The average yearly salary is $87,067.
8. A Splunk Certified Professional can learn the fundamentals of various positions and designations in multiple businesses.

Best practices for utilizing Splunk 

1. It includes testing the index so that the test may be carried out promptly.
2. Specific fields must be correctly indexed. After indexing, other items can be produced or updated.
3. There is an automatic event breaking option in Splunk. As a result, make sure that Splunk accurately detects the beginning and ending points of the event.
4. Splunk detects the timestamp for you. Before utilizing a different timestamp, be sure you have configured it.

Conclusion

For this reason, Splunk is a formidable security tool. You’ll be able to respond more quickly to security threats, lower the number of attacks, and improve the way your team works.

Like any system, the quality you receive depends on the quality you put into it. An initial amount of planning and constant evaluation is required before the process begins and during it. Splunk Partners like Converging Data can help you get the most out of Splunk and take your security operations to the next level.