SPLK-1002 Advanced Visualization and Lookups Practice Question
The security operations center (SOC) team at a medium-sized enterprise uses Splunk to investigate potential threats. They maintain a CSV lookup file named 'threat_intel.csv' that contains a list of known malicious IP addresses along with a threat score. The lookup is configured in transforms.conf as:
[threat_intel]
filename = threat_intel.csv match_type = WILDCARD(ip)
They frequently run the following search to enrich firewall events with threat scores:
index=firewall sourcetype=firewall_logs | lookup threat_intel src_ip OUTPUT threat_score | where threat_score > 5
Recently, analysts noticed that some IP addresses known to be present in the lookup file are not being matched in search results. They have verified that the lookup file is correctly formatted and contains those IPs, and the transforms.conf has not been altered. They also confirmed that the events contain the field src_ip with the correct IP addresses. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the missing matches?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The IP addresses in the lookup file are stored in a different case (e.g., uppercase) than in the events (lowercase).
The most likely cause is that the IP addresses in the lookup file and the events have different cases (e.g., uppercase vs. lowercase). Splunk lookups are case-sensitive by default unless the match_type is set to ignore case. Since the match_type is WILDCARD (which is still case-sensitive), case differences will prevent matching. Option A is correct.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The IP addresses in the lookup file are stored in a different case (e.g., uppercase) than in the events (lowercase).
Why this is correct
Lookups are case-sensitive by default; mismatched case prevents matching. This is a common issue.
- ✗
The search is limited to a time range that excludes events with those IP addresses.
Why it's wrong here
The analysts confirmed the events exist, so time range is not the issue.
- ✗
The lookup file contains duplicate entries for some IPs, causing conflicts.
Why it's wrong here
Duplicate entries would not cause missing matches; they might cause multiple matches but not prevent matching.
- ✗
The lookup command requires the input_fields parameter to specify which field to use for matching.
Why it's wrong here
The lookup command automatically uses the field name from the event if no input_fields is specified; it is not required.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SPLK-1002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Splunk certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SPLK-1002 exam.