Episode 35 — Use the RACI Model in OT: Clear Ownership Across Engineering, Ops, and Security

This episode explains how the RACI model prevents confusion in OT by making ownership explicit, which is critical when incidents, patch decisions, and access approvals collide with safety responsibilities. You’ll define Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed in operational terms, then apply those roles to common OT security activities like controller logic changes, firewall rule updates, remote vendor access, vulnerability response, and incident containment. We show why OT needs RACI discipline more than many IT environments, because authority is distributed across engineering, operations, maintenance, and safety functions, and the wrong assumption about who can approve can delay response or create unsafe actions. The episode provides realistic examples of RACI failure modes, such as “everyone thought someone else owned it,” or “security acted without operations,” then teaches how to correct those failures with written decision pathways and pre-approved playbooks. You’ll practice converting a vague responsibility statement into a clear RACI assignment that stands up in audits and still works at 2 a.m. when a plant is down and time matters. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with.