A cyber defense engineer plays a role in maintaining a secure SOAR Cloud configuration.

The correct connection model is that the Automation Broker initiates an outbound SSL connection to Splunk Cloud and also initiates outbound connections to managed endpoints . This architecture allows cloud-hosted SOAR functionality to communicate with security products located in environments where directly exposing those products to inbound Internet connections would be undesirable.

The critical network-security concept is connection directionality . The Automation Broker resides in an environment capable of reaching the internal tools it manages. It establishes its cloud communication outward rather than requiring Splunk Cloud to initiate arbitrary inbound connectivity into the protected network. When SOAR must execute an action against an internal security product, the broker provides the communication path to that managed endpoint.

Option C is internally inconsistent because a component does not “initiate an inbound connection”; inbound describes the receiving side of a connection. Option D reverses the expected relationship between the broker and managed endpoint, while option A incorrectly places initiation responsibility on Splunk Cloud.

Study Guide topics: Splunk SOAR Cloud, Automation Broker, outbound SSL, managed assets, network security, cloud-to-on-premises orchestration.