You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
SPLUNKSplunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer
The Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer certification validates your ability to optimize SOC workflows using Splunk Enterprise Security and Splunk SOAR. You'll learn to craft and tune effective detections, incorporate threat intelligence, and build automations that follow industry best practices. This credential is for security professionals ready to advance from analyst to defense engineering roles.
Exam format60 multiple choice questions
Duration75 minutes
DeliveryPearson VUE
Free questions512
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
5domains
19objectives
140concepts
$130 USDexam fee
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer certification establishes an intermediate-level standard for professionals who use Splunk Enterprise, Enterprise Security, and Splunk SOAR to defend security operations centers (SOCs). It validates your ability to create and tune detections, incorporate risk, develop and follow security processes, and efficiently automate standard operating procedures.
Earning this certification demonstrates that you can move beyond day-to-day monitoring into engineering: designing detection logic, integrating threat intelligence, and building SOAR playbooks that reduce manual effort. It is a career milestone for SOC analysts aiming to become defense engineers and for cybersecurity professionals who want to prove their operational expertise with Splunk security products.
Who it’s for
This certification is for Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analysts who want to grow into the Defense Engineering career path. It is also suited to SOC detection engineers and cybersecurity professionals who use Splunk Enterprise Security and Splunk SOAR to optimize detection and automation in a SOC environment. Candidates typically have hands-on experience with Splunk security tools and are comfortable analyzing security vulnerabilities and threats, developing detections, and automating standard operating procedures.
Recommended experience
Splunk recommends that candidates hold the Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst certification and have practical experience with Splunk Enterprise Security and Splunk SOAR. Experience as a Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analyst or equivalent SOC analyst role; Hands-on use of Splunk Enterprise Security for detection and monitoring; Hands-on use of Splunk SOAR for automation and orchestration; Understanding of security operations workflows and standard operating procedures
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective Splunk measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official Splunk exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Data Engineering
- Perform effective data review and analysis.
- Create and maintain performant data indexing.
- Understand and apply Splunk methods of data normalization.
Detection Engineering
- Create and tune detections (i.e. Correlation Search).
- Incorporate context into detections (i.e. Correlation Search).
- Understand and create risk-based modifiers and detections.
- Generate effective Notable Events/findings.
- Create and maintain a detection lifecycle.
Building Effective Security Processes and Programs
- Research, incorporate and develop threat intelligence.
- Use common methodologies for risk and detection prioritization.
- Generate documentation and standard operating procedures.
Automation and Efficiency
- Develop automation and orchestration for standard operating procedures.
- Optimize Case Management.
- Describe and utilize REST APIs.
- Automate responses using SOAR playbooks.
- Compare and validate integrations and automation capabilities of Enterprise Security and SOAR.
Auditing and Reporting on Security Programs
- Develop and optimize security metrics.
- Build and populate effective security reports.
- Build and populate dashboards for program analytics.
On the day
The exam itself
Everything Splunk publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
CertificationSplunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer
Exam format60 multiple choice questions
Duration75 minutes
DeliveryPearson VUE
Pricing$130 USD
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path Splunk lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer
Credential earnedSplunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer Certification Renewal and maintenance
Splunk certifications must be renewed every three years. You can renew by pursuing additional certifications, completing continuing education courses, or re-taking the certification exam. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. Splunk maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by Splunk
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Pearson VUE, Splunk’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official Splunk certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How does the Cybersecurity Defense Engineer certification relate to the Cybersecurity Defense Analyst certification?
The Engineer certification is the next step after the Analyst certification. It is designed for Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Analysts who want to grow into the Defense Engineering career path, focusing on creating and tuning detections, incorporating threat intelligence, and automating SOC workflows.
Is the Cybersecurity Defense Analyst certification required before taking the Engineer exam?
No, the Analyst certification is not a mandatory prerequisite. However, Splunk explicitly recommends it as the intended pathway, and the exam is designed for candidates who already hold that credential.
What job roles does the Splunk Certified Cybersecurity Defense Engineer credential map to?
This certification is aimed at SOC Detection Engineers and cybersecurity professionals who want to advance from SOC analyst roles into defense engineering. It validates skills critical to optimizing detection and automation in a SOC environment.
Can I recertify by passing a different Splunk exam?
Yes. Splunk's recertification policy allows you to renew your certification by pursuing additional certifications, completing continuing education courses, or re-taking the certification exam every three years.
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the exam?
The exam format is 60 multiple choice questions. There is no hands-on lab component mentioned in the official exam details.
How do I schedule the exam?
The exam is delivered by Pearson VUE, which offers online and onsite testing options. You can schedule your exam through the Pearson VUE website after registering.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 512 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept Splunk measures — each one written out.
5domains
19objectives
140concepts
109free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official Splunk exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Data Engineering84 questions
2Detection Engineering114 questions
Create and tune detections (i.e. Correlation Search).7 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Incorporate context into detections (i.e. Correlation Search).5 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Understand and create risk-based modifiers and detections.6 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Generate effective Notable Events/findings.10 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Create and maintain a detection lifecycle.6 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →
3Building Effective Security Processes and Programs95 questions
4Automation and Efficiency139 questions
Develop automation and orchestration for standard operating procedures.10 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Optimize Case Management.9 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Describe and utilize REST APIs.6 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Automate responses using SOAR playbooks.7 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Compare and validate integrations and automation capabilities of Enterprise Security and SOAR.7 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →
5Auditing and Reporting on Security Programs80 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Perform effective data review and analysis.7 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
34 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
512 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
512questions
109pages
19objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Data Engineering84 questions
2Detection Engineering114 questions
3Building Effective Security Processes and Programs95 questions
4Automation and Efficiency139 questions
5Auditing and Reporting on Security Programs80 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
140concepts
512free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from Splunk
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
3official links
140concepts mapped
The source
Splunk’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official Splunk outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 19 objectives, 140 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When Splunk changes the outline, this page changes with it.
19objectives on the outline→140concepts written→512free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.