AppRiver, a leading a provider of business email security solutions, is offering companies in the path of Hurricane Wilma a free service to protect and preserve email traffic should their servers be affected by the impact of the Category 4 storm.

"Mother Nature is testing our dependency on email this hurricane season," said Michael Murdoch, CEO of AppRiver. "We understand that email is the backbone of most companies' communications flow and any downtime can cause substantial damage in lost productivity and lost business. We want to offer as much protection as possible to companies who are at risk of losing their email due to Hurricane Wilma."

Murdoch said that AppRiver will hold a copy of all incoming email until the storm has passed and the company's email servers are functioning. This limited service is available to businesses that have an Internet domain name.

Billy Burk, owner of Burk Brokerage, LLC, a New Orleans brokerage and real estate firm, recently signed up for the free offer when Katrina hit. "With six active companies and over 150 employees depending on our firm, we needed access to our email desperately." While Burk Brokerage's offices, homes and 14 properties were under eight feet of water, AppRiver was able to redirect all email to an online access point that could then be accessed by employees. "Without AppRiver's help, our business wouldn't have been able to function as it did throughout Katrina's aftermath," said Burk.

To access the free service, businesses need only visit AppRiver's website, www.AppRiver.com, and click the button marked "Free Emergency Email Protection" at the top of the screen. Users will be guided through a simple process from that point. Or, they can call AppRiver at 1-866-223-4645.