How to Use a RACI Matrix to Operationalize the NIST Cybersecurity Framework

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) has become the de facto standard for organizations—both public and private—seeking to manage and reduce cybersecurity risk. However, implementation often stumbles not because organizations don’t understand what needs to be done, but because they’re unsure who should do it.

Enter the RACI matrix: a simple, powerful tool for clarifying responsibilities across complex initiatives. This guide explores how to apply RACI to each component of the NIST CSF, and how using a platform like ezRACI can help operationalize the framework efficiently.

Chapter 1: What Is the NIST Cybersecurity Framework?

Developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Cybersecurity Framework provides a structured and flexible approach for organizations to manage their cybersecurity risks. Originally designed for critical infrastructure sectors, it is now widely adopted across industries including finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and government.

The framework consists of five core functions:

1. Identify

2. Protect

3. Detect

4. Respond

5. Recover

Each function includes Categories and Subcategories, which map to Informative References such as ISO 27001, COBIT, and NIST SP 800-53. While the framework is voluntary, many organizations adopt it to:

• Align security practices with business objectives

• Meet regulatory and audit requirements

• Prepare for cybersecurity insurance underwriting

• Mature incident response and recovery programs

However, the CSF’s strength—its flexibility—can also be its weakness. Without defined ownership, categories like “Risk Management Strategy” or “Security Continuous Monitoring” can fall into limbo. That’s where RACI helps convert high-level guidance into clear action.

Chapter 2: Why RACI and NIST Make a Perfect Pair

The RACI model—Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed—maps directly to the kinds of decisions and cross-functional collaboration required by the NIST CSF. Here's how:

• Responsible: Who is doing the work (e.g., configuring a SIEM, running a risk assessment)

• Accountable: Who is ultimately answerable for the result (e.g., CISO, CIO)

• Consulted: Whose input is required (e.g., legal, HR, compliance)

• Informed: Who needs to stay updated (e.g., board members, business unit leads)

By aligning RACI to each NIST subcategory, you can:

• Avoid duplication of effort and eliminate gaps

• Establish audit-ready accountability

• Improve clarity across IT, security, and business functions

• Accelerate adoption by assigning ownership upfront

For example, in the “Respond” function, knowing who is responsible for external communications (PR), internal forensics, and regulatory notifications can dramatically reduce confusion during an incident.

Chapter 3: Building Your Foundation — Identify Function

The Identify function helps organizations gain a deep understanding of their business context, critical assets, risks, and governance structures. It lays the foundation for all other cybersecurity functions.

Categories within Identify include:

• Asset Management (ID.AM)

• Business Environment (ID.BE)

• Governance (ID.GV)

• Risk Assessment (ID.RA)

• Risk Management Strategy (ID.RM)

• Supply Chain Risk Management (ID.SC)

Many organizations struggle to assign responsibility for activities such as:

• Maintaining up-to-date hardware and software inventories

• Performing annual risk assessments

• Creating risk registers

• Defining enterprise risk tolerance

A RACI matrix allows IT asset managers, risk teams, and business owners to align clearly. For example:

• Responsible: Security Architect, Risk Analyst

• Accountable: Chief Risk Officer or CISO

• Consulted: Legal Counsel, Procurement, Data Owners

• Informed: CEO, Board Audit Committee

With ezRACI, you can assign these roles across templates and projects, tag stakeholders by function, and enable visibility into each task—whether they’re internal or external.

Chapter 4: Strengthening Your Shield — Protect Function

The Protect function focuses on implementing safeguards to prevent or minimize cybersecurity events. This is where most security investments—tools, training, and controls—tend to focus.

Protect categories include:

• Identity Management & Access Control (PR.AC)

• Awareness and Training (PR.AT)

• Data Security (PR.DS)

• Information Protection Processes and Procedures (PR.IP)

• Maintenance (PR.MA)

• Protective Technology (PR.PT)

Key activities range from:

• Enforcing multi-factor authentication

• Encrypting data at rest and in transit

• Conducting regular security training

• Maintaining secure baseline configurations

But who owns each of those? RACI helps establish that:

• Responsible: IAM team, Security Engineer

• Accountable: IT Director, Security Architect

• Consulted: HR (for training), Compliance (for policy)

• Informed: Application Owners, Risk Committees

Using ezRACI, these roles can be visually tracked across each protection initiative—ensuring your teams are not only compliant but collaborative.

Chapter 5: Sharpening Your Radar — Detect Function

Detect is all about recognizing cybersecurity events quickly and accurately.

Key categories:

• Anomalies and Events (DE.AE)

• Security Continuous Monitoring (DE.CM)

• Detection Processes (DE.DP)

This function depends on well-tuned SIEMs, endpoint detection, user behavior analytics, and threat intelligence integrations. But detection without ownership = delay.

A common RACI mapping:

• Responsible: SOC Analyst, Security Engineer

• Accountable: Director of Security Operations

• Consulted: Business Unit IT, App Owners

• Informed: CISO, Legal (for high-severity events)

ezRACI enables SOC teams to define and automate detection responsibilities and reporting chains—reducing mean time to detection (MTTD) and improving internal comms.

Chapter 6: Preparing to Act — Respond Function

The Respond function outlines what to do when a cybersecurity event occurs. It’s the playbook for containment, analysis, and escalation.

Categories include:

• Response Planning (RS.RP)

• Communications (RS.CO)

• Analysis (RS.AN)

• Mitigation (RS.MI)

• Improvements (RS.IM)

During an incident, time is critical. Knowing who is responsible for contacting regulators, initiating containment protocols, and conducting root cause analysis can determine the outcome.

Suggested RACI:

• Responsible: IR Team, Security Lead

• Accountable: CISO

• Consulted: Legal, PR, Forensics

• Informed: Executive Team, External Auditors

ezRACI allows you to prepare and store these assignments in advance—so you’re not figuring it out during the crisis.

Chapter 7: Rebuilding Trust — Recover Function

The Recover function ensures the organization can return to normal operations and learn from the event.

Recovery categories:

• Recovery Planning (RC.RP)

• Improvements (RC.IM)

• Communications (RC.CO)

The aftermath of an incident often exposes gaps in backup strategies, vendor dependencies, or incident retrospectives.

Example RACI roles:

• Responsible: Disaster Recovery Lead, IT Ops

• Accountable: CIO

• Consulted: Risk Manager, Vendors

• Informed: Board, Customers (where applicable)

With ezRACI, you can maintain recovery responsibilities as part of a living matrix—integrated into business continuity plans and post-mortems.

Chapter 8: From Compliance to Collaboration — The ezRACI Advantage

Most teams track cybersecurity activities in Excel or ticketing systems—separate from the people and processes doing the work.

ezRACI changes that.

With pre-built NIST CSF templates, real-time collaboration, and integrations into tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Jira, ezRACI helps your team move from documentation to action.

Key features:

• NIST-aligned RACI templates

• Role-based tagging and notifications

• Bulk assignment and matrix versioning

• Exportable audit trail

• Visibility across all five NIST functions

This allows CISOs, program managers, and compliance officers to work in lockstep with IT, HR, legal, and executive leadership.

Chapter 9: Common Pitfalls in Implementing NIST with RACI

While RACI is simple in concept, poor execution can undermine your goals. Common mistakes include:

• Not identifying business unit stakeholders

• Assigning multiple people as "Accountable"

• Leaving external vendors out of the matrix

• Using RACI as a one-time project artifact instead of a living document

ezRACI’s collaborative design and template-driven workflow help you avoid these pitfalls, update responsibilities over time, and align RACI to organizational changes as your cybersecurity program matures.

Chapter 10: Final Thoughts — Turn Frameworks into Action

The NIST CSF helps you understand what needs to happen. RACI clarifies who’s going to make it happen. And ezRACI brings both together into a living, collaborative system.

Instead of just checking boxes, you can build a culture of accountability and coordination—spanning IT, security, compliance, and the business.

Ready to operationalize your NIST Cybersecurity Framework?

👉 Explore templates and try it free at www.ezraci.com