Students will be expected to post their first initial discussion board posting by Friday of each week. Discussion posts will be graded and late submissions will be assigned a late penalty in accordance with the late penalty policy found in the syllabus. NOTE: All submission posting times are based on midnight Central Time.

Students are expected to post their responses to peers by Tuesday. NOTE: All submission posting times are based on midnight Central Time.

Choose a sector to consider, then select an asset (real or hypothetical) to discuss.

Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas on the following.

· Describe your asset.

· What sector does it fall within?

· What would a network that included this asset look like? Give examples.

· What sectors does your sector have interdependencies with?

· Give examples of these interdependencies.

· Identify and discuss some of the vulnerabilities that this sector and asset would reasonably expect to have.

· Do the same with its risks.

· How could the risks and vulnerabilities be mitigated?

· What are the probable consequences that are associated with this sector or asset as a result of a terrorist attack?

· What about as the result of a natural disaster?

· Explain which type of disaster might be the worst, and why.

· As an emergency manager or homeland security professional, explain how and with whom you would develop partnerships to help identify risks and vulnerabilities, and mitigate these in regard to your selected sector.

Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100-word reply about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the