Security options

Splunk includes several options for securing your data. Authentication options allow you to secure your Splunk Server. Audit configurations enable data security, including cryptographic signing and event hashing.

Authentication

Authentication includes SSL and HTTPS, user-based access controls (known as roles) and LDAP.

SSL/HTTPS

You can configure SSL for both Splunk's back-end (splunkd talking to the browser) and the front-end (HTTPS when logging into Splunk Web). To set up SSL for Splunk's back-end, see instructions here. To enable HTTPS for Splunk Web, follow these instructions.

Configure roles

You no longer have to use Splunk's default roles of Admin, Power or User. While these roles remain built into Splunk, you can now define your own roles out of a list of capabilities. Create flexible roles for Splunk users via authorize.conf.

Learn more about configuring roles.

LDAP

Splunk supports authentication via its internal authentication services or your existing LDAP server.

Learn more about configuring LDAP.

Audit

Splunk includes audit features to allow you to track the reliability of your data. Watch files and directories with the file system change monitor, monitor activities within Splunk (such as searches or configuration changes) with audit events, cryptographically sign audit events events with audit event signing, and block sign any data entering your Splunk index with IT data signing.

File system change monitor

You can use the file system change monitor in Splunk Preview to watch any directory or file. Splunk indexes an event any time the file system undergoes any sort of change or someone edits the watched files. The file system change monitor's behavior is completely configurable through inputs.conf.

Learn more about how to configure the file system change monitor.

Audit events

Watch your Splunk instance by monitoring audit events. Audit events are generated whenever anyone accesses any of your Splunk instances -- including any searches, configuration changes or administrative activities. Each audit event contains information that shows you what changed where and when and who implemented the change. Audit events are especially useful in distributed Splunk configurations for detecting configuration and access control changes across many Splunk Servers.

Learn more about how audit events work.

Audit event signing

If you are using Splunk with an Enterprise license, you can configure audit events to be cryptographically signed. Audit event signing adds a sequential number (for detecting gaps in data to reveal tampering), and appends an encrypted hash signature to each audit event.

Configure auditing by setting stanzas in audit.conf, decorations.conf, and inputs.conf.

Learn more about audit event signing.

IT data signing

If you are using Splunk with an Enterprise license, you can configure Splunk to verify the integrity of IT data as it is indexed. If IT data signing is enabled, Splunk creates a signature for blocks of data as it is indexed. Signatures allow you to detect gaps in data or tampered data.

Learn more about IT data signing.

Customize audit decorations

Customize how different audit events appear in Splunk Web. Decorate events with unique CSS based on audit information contained in the event. For example, valid events show with a green check mark, while tampered events show a yellow caution symbol.

Learn more about Dynamic event rendering.

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