The Rotary Club of Anna Maria Island will hold its ninth annual Casino Night on Saturday, Feb. 25, at St. Bernard Church auditorium, 248 South Harbor Drive in Holmes Beach. This year's theme is "An Evening in Las Vegas." The doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

There will be a total of 15 casino-style tables featuring a variety of professional Las Vegas games. Each table is sponsored by a local business. Included in the cost of admission will be lots of food to enjoy, live music by Standout Entertainment, an open bar and a door prize drawing for a 50-inch flat screen TV.

One of the highlights of the evening is the live auction of a 2007 883 CC Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle in like-new condition with only 2400 miles. Of course, there will also be lots of great items offered in the silent auction including art by local artisans and a variety of outstanding bargains donated by local businesses.

The Rotary Wheel of Hope will be front and center again this year. The wheel has 48 spaces. Each space will be sold for $50. During the Casino Night the wheel will be spun and the owner of the space the Wheel stops on win a sensational grand prize of the exclusive use of a large three bedroom vacation house that sleeps up to eight people for seven days and valued at $1600. The house with a large pool, hot tub, sauna, and exercise room is located just 5 miles from The Strip in the real Las Vegas, Nevada.

Over the years, this annual Casino Night has become one of the must-do events of the season and the Rotary Club hopes to sell out all 250 tickets at only $50 each. All proceeds will go to humanitarian projects and programs, locally and internationally.

For a complete list of the club's charities and all the information on the Casino Night including how to get event tickets and Wheel of Hope spaces, visit www.annamariarotary.org or call 941-448-5500. Tickets can also be purchased in person at Just4Fun Rentals, 5358 Gulf Drive in Holmes Beach, next to Minnie's restaurant, where the Harley is on display.

Security while using the Internet and e-mail was not something I envisioned as a priority when I started my registered investment advisory firm 20 years ago this month. Of course, many Internet-based services and tools we take for granted today weren't available back then.

As a business owner, I'm cognizant of the importance of protecting sensitive client data when transmitting or housing information on their behalf. But perhaps even more important is what individual investors do to protect themselves in this brave new world of accessing information. Some months, ago I wrote in this space about how some basic measures such a sophisticated passwords and anti-virus software, are the first steps in protecting yourself. Let's review a few guidelines for the next level of protection:

• It is best to not open e-mails from someone you don't know and it's definitely a no – no to click links embedded in e-mails you're not familiar with the source of. Even worse is to then provide any personal information, even phone numbers or dates of birth, after clicking on a link in an e-mail, unless you are sure of the authenticity of the sender.

• The safest way to access financial websites, which are protected by passwords, is to store a link to the website in your list of "favorites" when you first establish a relationship with the company, and access the site from there, rather than using links provided in periodic e-mails. This practice avoids the possibility of you logging into a site which may appear genuine, but which might be the creation of a criminal with intent to obtain your login and password information, which could then be recorded and used by them to access your account through the legitimate financial firm website.

So, while most brokerage firms, banks and investment advisors (including Breiter Capital Management) include a link in e-mail communications for sake of convenience, the most secure method is to access the site from outside the e-mail.

• The explosion in use of social media sites has created new risks. Profile pages on Facebook, Linked-In and others, as well as communications on Twitter, potentially put your personal information in the public eye.

For example, if your Facebook profile contains your full date of birth, that could be the piece of information criminals needs to open a new credit card account in your name if they were able to obtain the other necessary pieces of information from other sources.

Most social networking websites allow you to hide your year of birth, displaying only month and day, or to choose not to display it at all.

Obviously, posting addresses, phone numbers and other seemingly benign information may appear harmless, but it may provide the missing piece of information someone with mal-intent may need to carry out their fraud.

It is never a bad idea, if you have any doubt about the legitimacy of an electronic communication requesting information or inviting you to click through to a website, to call the firm from which the communication appears to have been issued from. The customer service agent will be able to confirm the legitimacy of the e-mail or information request. If they cannot, then it is likely an attempt at fraud.

Of course, as I reminded everyone in my last article on this topic, please make sure to keep your computer up to date with the latest security patches and updates, along with updating your anti-virus software regularly. Most systems today can be set for automatic download and installation of updates as they become available. And, changing passwords every few months is always a good idea.

Let's all stay safe on the net.

Tom Breiter is president of Breiter Capital Management, Inc., an Anna Maria based investment advisor. He can be reached at 778-1900. Some of the investment concepts highlighted in this column may carry the risk of loss of principal, and investors should determine appropriateness for their personal situation before investing. Visit www.breitercapital.com.