**REPLY TO EACH RESPONSE 100 WORDS MIN EACH** 1. As I mentioned in my introduction week 1, I'm a resident of the great state of Wisconsin. While we're known as "America's Dairyland", we also have a great deal of other agriculture in the state, most notable corn (maize). I actually just this morning watched a tractor till up the cornfield that my house backs up to! With that said, agriculture is near and dear to my heart, and I've learned more than I bargained for about the industry in my time living here. I'm inclined to agree with Tommy Thompson that it is amazing nobody has attempted to attack our nation's food supply, and I firmly believe that when that attack finally does come, it will be on our nation's corn crops. The reason I am so convinced the attack would come against corn crops is that corn has become absolutely ubiquitous. If you name a critical food staple, I'll explain to you how corn contributes to its production. The field behind my house, for example, grew feed corn this year. Both beef and dairy cows (Yes, they are different breeds, and you wouldn't want to eat a dairy cow!) eat corn-based feed products. If you destroy a feed corn crop, you not only decrease the dairy cow's output, but you may kill off some of the population due to hunger, and the same is true of beef cows. In addition to those issues, there's also the glaring problem of corn grown for human consumption being destroyed. This would not only affect corn sold on the cob, frozen, and in cans, but corn that is then refined into products like corn meal and high-fructose corn syrup. If we lose the corn crop, your favorite soda will likely go with it! Another consideration is that corn is also commonly grown for energy. Ethanol, a corn-based alcohol, is found in the majority of gasoline nowadays. While E85, an 85% ethanol-15% gasoline mixture, is somewhat less popular than it was circa 2010, it's not uncommon to see up to 15% ethanol in gasoline pumps. It's particularly common in higher concentrations in premium, higher-octane fuels used in premium and high performance vehicles because it is a cost-effective way to boost fuel's octane rating. This is why you will often see mid-grade gasoline being sold cheaper than regular, because it has a higher ethanol content. Overall, I think it's very easy to see why corn crops would be such a valuable target for potential agroterrorists. While corn has become an extremely useful crop, our dependence on a single crop for so much of our food supply and energy supply definitely opens up the possibility for wide-spread damage to the economy should that crop fail due to an agroterrorism attack. 2. When people think of a terrorist attack, images of explosions or 9/11 flash through their minds. When people think of CBRN attacks, they think of people gasping for breath or think of recent pictures of chemical attacks in Syria. But few people think about potential attacks against agriculture, or Agroterrorism. Agroterrorism is .

1. **REPLY TO EACH RESPONSE 100 WORDS MIN EACH**
1. As I mentioned in my introduction week 1, I'm a resident of
the great state of Wisconsin. While we're known as "America's
Dairyland", we also have a great deal of other agriculture in the
state, most notable corn (maize). I actually just this morning
watched a tractor till up the cornfield that my house backs up
to! With that said, agriculture is near and dear to my heart, and
I've learned more than I bargained for about the industry in my
time living here. I'm inclined to agree with Tommy Thompson
that it is amazing nobody has attempted to attack our nation's
food supply, and I firmly believe that when that attack finally
does come, it will be on our nation's corn crops. The reason I
am so convinced the attack would come against corn crops is
that corn has become absolutely ubiquitous. If you name a
critical food staple, I'll explain to you how corn contributes to
its production. The field behind my house, for example, grew
feed corn this year. Both beef and dairy cows (Yes, they are
different breeds, and you wouldn't want to eat a dairy cow!) eat
corn-based feed products. If you destroy a feed corn crop, you
not only decrease the dairy cow's output, but you may kill off
some of the population due to hunger, and the same is true of
beef cows. In addition to those issues, there's also the glaring
problem of corn grown for human consumption being destroyed.
This would not only affect corn sold on the cob, frozen, and in
cans, but corn that is then refined into products like corn meal
and high-fructose corn syrup. If we lose the corn crop, your
favorite soda will likely go with it! Another consideration is
that corn is also commonly grown for energy. Ethanol, a corn-
based alcohol, is found in the majority of gasoline nowadays.
While E85, an 85% ethanol-15% gasoline mixture, is somewhat
less popular than it was circa 2010, it's not uncommon to see up

2. to 15% ethanol in gasoline pumps. It's particularly common in
higher concentrations in premium, higher-octane fuels used in
premium and high performance vehicles because it is a cost-
effective way to boost fuel's octane rating. This is why you will
often see mid-grade gasoline being sold cheaper than regular,
because it has a higher ethanol content. Overall, I think it's very
easy to see why corn crops would be such a valuable target for
potential agroterrorists. While corn has become an extremely
useful crop, our dependence on a single crop for so much of our
food supply and energy supply definitely opens up the
possibility for wide-spread damage to the economy should that
crop fail due to an agroterrorism attack.
2. When people think of a terrorist attack, images of explosions
or 9/11 flash through their minds. When people think of CBRN
attacks, they think of people gasping for breath or think of
recent pictures of chemical attacks in Syria. But few people
think about potential attacks against agriculture, or
Agroterrorism. Agroterrorism is deliberate, attacks against a
nation’s agricultural industry, most often focused on a nation’s
food supply. Even though, economically, the U.S. agricultural
industry is not the largest or the most powerful industry in the
country, every single person relies on it. Imagine a biological
agent (disease) was introduced to something as simple as wheat.
This agent spreads quickly and completely destroys the wheat
plants it infects. Wheat is used in almost every aspect of the
food industry. Whether it’s bread, paper, pharmaceuticals,
soaps, adhesives or feed for animals, wheat is used far beyond
what most people believe. If a biological agent managed to
infect the nation’s supply of wheat, every single industry
mentioned above would be affected. Not only that, but many of
wheat’s uses still involve being ingested or coming into contact
with it, whether by people or animals. This in turn could lead to

3. this sickness spreading or causing other illnesses. This in turn
would cause a panic throughout the public, as fear of getting
sick from their food would spread. Which could then lead to
even greater economic downturn far beyond the wheat industry.
Look what happens when there is a beef recall due to
Salmonella or some other problem. If people found out that
cattle had been eating tainted wheat, would they want to buy
beef? Probably not. The threat of Agroterrorism is a far more
significant threat than most people realize. The scenario above
only looks at one type of agricultural product being attacked,
even thought there a many more than just wheat. An attack on
any type of agricultural product would have effects far outside
the immediate product.
3. Focusing on HUMINT first, this is the collection of
information provided by a human source either through oral
conversation or documentation (ODNI, 2013). HUMINT is
typically collected in either an overt or clandestine
methodology. Considering this is the only intelligence
discipline in which the collector speaks directly to the source, it
has significant capabilities in the amount of information that
can be collected. Example, HUMINT is often described as the
intelligence discipline that can provide you the “Ground Truth”.
It can penetrate a target in ways that no other discipline can. An
example of this is to say you are trying to build a pattern of life
of a specific building. You may be able to monitor it through
ISR to observe people going in and out but it will be extremely
difficult to gather everything that is going on inside. A
HUMINT source on the other hand who has placement and
access to this building could provide you details on specific
intel gaps you have about that building. One of the limitations
is the timeliness of HUMINT. Every step in the HUMINT
recruiting and tasking cycle takes time… A LOT of time. You

4. will not always get the answer you are looking for right away
and that is something that people need to really understand
about HUMINT if they are trying to leverage it real-time.
4. Some of the capabilities of HUMINT is the collection efforts
can be used in any situation and accomplished with minimal
equipment. According to the United States Army (2006),
operators can deploy in all types of environments and support
offensive, defensive, stability and reconstruction operations, or
civil support operations. HUMINT operations are done through
overt, covert, or clandestine means. It uses human sources to
identify elements, intentions, composition, strength,
dispositions, tactics, equipment, personnel, and capabilities.
Information is obtained through observations, elicitation,
debriefings, and exploitation of documents or media. Some of
the limitations of HUMINT collection and operations are the
human error factors and the time it takes to establish rapport
and develop leads as reliable and credible sources. Some of the
capabilities of technical collection, such as SIGINT, IMINT,
and MASINT, are that all three technical collection disciplines
employ electro-optical and radio frequency-based systems to
provide unique collection capabilities. These methods enable
collectors to intercept signals or communications transmitted
electronically through radars, radios, or weapons systems.
These transmissions help identify equipment type and locations,
i.e. cell phone activity and credit card purchases. Some of the
limitations to technical collection are the expensive costs to
develop and implement. Technical collection is also limited by
the technological capabilities of the intelligence organization.
Some technology is relatively easy to out date and
countermeasures are often simple (IOSS, 1996).

5. 5. Risk management is pretty much the first step for homeland
security to be effective in their goal to protect the nation. Risks
must be identified first before any planning can take place with
the goal of preventing or dealing with them. "Improved
homeland security depends on connecting information about
risks, activities and capabilities and using this information to
guide prevention, protection, response, and recovery efforts.
The establishment of sound risk management practices across
DHS and the homeland security enterprise will help protect and
enhance national interests, conserve resources, and assist in
avoiding or mitigating the effects of emerging or unknown
risks."(Risk Management Fundamentals, 2011) Simply, you can
not protect without first determining what you must protect
against. In the case of not being able to protect against
something, steps and actions must be taken to make the impact
less severe and resilience easier. Cyber-security factors into
Critical Infrastructure Protection and risk management being
that a cyber attack on any of our critical infrastructure sectors
could leave us vulnerable and open our nation to other attacks.
With updated and more modern technology, all our systems
have been connected to the internet in some way. "Because the
computer network is tied to the internet, hackers can
compromise the industrial control system and wreck havoc on
everything from the power grid to transportation networks and
more."(Why Cyber Security is Vital for Homeland Security)
Cyber-security wasn't really an issue in the past, but now, you
can achieve almost anything online.
6. This week we are to answer what specific roles does risk
management play in homeland security efforts and how does
cyber security factor in critical infrastructure. Risk management

6. plays a huge role in risk management. So much in fact that in
April of 2011 the Department of Homeland Security published
Risk Management Fundamentals Doctrine. In this doctrine they
cover a wide array of risk management. Topics such as internal
and external source of risk and he risk management process to
homeland security. This is not all as throughout homeland
security there are various programs and documents outlining
steps to avoid risk. One area is under Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security (CISA), the name is National Risk
Management Center (NMRC).”The National Risk Management
Center (NRMC) helps fulfill the Agency’s risk advisor role by
leveraging sector and stakeholder expertise to identify the most
significant risks to the nation, and to coordinate risk reduction
activities to ensure critical infrastructure is secure and resilient
both now and into the future”(CISA, 2020, Para 3). Similar to
the DHS and their doctrine it outlines the steps to avoid risk,
CISA’s being Identify, Analyze, prioritize and manage (CISA,
2020). Another area I would like to highlight is under Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the National
Preparedness System. The National Preparedness System is
broken up in six components all aimed the management of risk.
The six are all steps taken to achieve the national Preparedness
goal. Homeland Security in its self is a form of risk
management because risk is a form of danger, threat or hazard.
The Homeland Security enterprise assess and manages threats
and hazards of all kinds, using various documents like the threat
assessment. As technology develops it plays an increasing role
in our daily life including our infrastructures. If a critical
infrastructure were to be hacked it could spell disaster
depending on which infrastructure is hacked. CISA plays a huge
role in this field by using functions like the National
Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center
(NCCIC). Operating nonstop “the NCCIC shares information
among the public and private sectors to provide greater
understanding of cybersecurity and communications situation
awareness of vulnerabilities, intrusions, incidents, mitigation,

7. and recovery actions” (CISA, 2020,para 4). Furthermore, they
work hard with all levels of government and law enforcement to
minimize risks associated to the infrastructures by increasing
knowledge amongst sectors and employing Computer
Emergency Response teams (CERTs) (CISA, 2020). There are
more programs geared in the protection of the infrastructures
like Cyber safety, insurance and governance to name a few In
short cybersecurity plays a huge role. Have a good week