Former US Secret Service Agent to present at Wine Industry Financial Symposium
(Napa, CALIF.) – Wineries are increasingly at risk from losses due to cyber crime. Former U.S. Secret Service Agent Michael Musgrave, who is now Senior Vice President and Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit for Rabobank, will discuss winery vulnerability to online crime, and offer preventative solutions, at the 24th Annual Wine Industry Financial Symposium www.WineSymposium.com set for Monday, September 21 and Tuesday, September 22 in Napa.
“We are seeing several instances where customer email is being hacked and monitored. Fraudsters are requesting wire transactions to be sent as if the President or CEO has ordered the wire transaction. In these instances the perpetrator represents that the requested transaction is time sensitive and that they cannot be reached by phone,” Musgrave who has been lauded by the FBI for his investigative work explains, “Wineries need to know that bank policies require phone contact with the customer to confirm genuine requests.” Account takeovers, contact list hacking, database intrusions and other crimes that can subtract from the bottom line are real threats that wineries need to work to avoid.
In addition to cyber crime, the “How to Keep Your Business Safe from Crime” panel will discuss embezzlement, internal theft, employee trust and other issues that have been repeatedly surfacing in the news in wine regions nationally with headlines such as: “Bookkeeper charged with winery embezzlement,” “Napa worker allegedly steals $400,000 in wine,” “Oregon Winery Bookkeeper Sentenced To More Than 6 Years For Embezzlement” and “Man charged with embezzlement” (West Virginia winery).
The 2015 Wine Industry Financial Symposium Program, with the theme of “The Wine Business with New Rules,” in addition to issues such as crime, will also feature intense insights into domestic and global, points of view from a trio of wine industry leaders Ted Baseler, President & CEO, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates; Ian Harris, Chief Executive, Wine and Spirits Education Trust and Dr. Damien Wilson, Hamel Chair of Wine Business, Sonoma State University and dozens of other speakers who will share information and ideas that will help attendees improve their businesses. The complete program is available here: http://bit.ly/1hP5BGT
The 2015 Wine Industry Financial Symposium event sponsors include: American Ag Credit; Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Bank of the West; BMO Harris Bank; Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc. (BPM) Accountants and Consultants; Gaw Van Male; H&A Financing; Manatt, Phelps & Phillips; MetLife Agricultural Investments; Moss Adams, LLP Certified Public Accountants / Business Consultants; Northwest Distribution & Storage / WineCo; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Prudential Agricultural Investments; Rabobank International & Rabobank, N.A.; Umpqua Bank; Union Bank; Wells Fargo Bank; Zepponi & Company; American Vineyard Magazine; Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine; Wine Business Monthly; Wine Industry Insight; Wine Industry Network and Wines & Vines (now including Practical Winery & Vineyard). The complete program, as well as registration, is available online at www.WineSymposium.com.
Launched in 1992, the Wine Industry Financial Symposium is the premier event in regard to the financial, investment, economic and business issues of the wine industry. Registration for this popular event is now open at www.WineSymposium.com with early bird rates good only through September 4.
About the Wine Industry Symposium Group
The founders of the Wine Industry Symposium Group met in early 1992 with the hope that by forming a new industry conference, they would create an open exchange of thoughts and ideas concerning financial aspects of the California wine industry. The Wine Industry Financial Symposium was born. A couple of years later, in 1994, the group started a similar program, the Central Coast Insights Program, to fit the needs of that region. A year later, the Vineyard Economics Seminar was created for grape growers. Because of consistent globalization and consolidation in the wine business, the Wine Industry Symposium Group continues to operate with the mission of providing a critical platform for important communication and dialogue between the multiple facets of the wine business and the lending community. For more information visit www.winesymposium.com or call (707) 666-2525. Like the Wine Symposium Group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WineSymposiumGroup and follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wine_symposium.
