The technology works by adding a second level of encryption to standard security measures used in the industry. Instead of traveling over the Internet, the data stays encoded at a database in Open Market.

The technology takes advantage of two developing forms of communication security.

"The project and many of the other projects we are working on that will use encryption to transmit credit card numbers and other secure information," Kutter said. "This is used with two protocols: SSL and S-http."

The S-http Web technology, which stands for secure hypertext transfer protocol, is regarded as the emerging standard for Web security, and SSL is an alternative security approach which is used in the Netscape browser, he said.

Kutter said the company, which currently has about 50 employees, moved this weekend from its offices on 215 First St. to 245 First St.

"We moved because our office space here could not hold the number of employees since we are growing rapidly," Kutter said.

Kutter said the company has three main areas of business, one of which is the WebServer technology.

"Second is Open Marketplace where we will be creating a [set] of tools where one can create storefronts on the Internet," Kutter said. "The third is working with larger businesses to facilitate their businesses on the Internet."

The company offers a complete electronic infrastructure for establishing and managing a business on the Internet, ranging from on-line store creation for small businesses to custom business solutions for larger corporations.

Working with the larger companies is the company's most profitable area, Kutter said, but "only because the server products and the Open Marketplace are still in development."

"Both are coming on-line very soon or were just recently released, so we assume in the near future those areas will pick up too," he said.

Open Market can be reached over the World Wide Web at http://www.openmarket.com.