A security system for secure printing of value-bearing items in a wide area computer network comprising: a plurality of user terminals coupled to the computer network; a database including information about one or more users using the plurality of terminals; a plurality of cryptographic modules remote from the plurality of user terminals and coupled to the computer network, wherein the cryptographic modules include a computer executable code for authenticating one or more users, wherein each of the plurality of cryptographic modules is available for use by any of the users, and wherein each cryptographic module is not dedicated to particular user terminals; and a plurality of security device transaction data stored in the database for ensuring authenticity of the one or more users, wherein each security device transaction data is related to a user, wherein any cryptographic module authenticates the identity of each user and authenticates the user for a role, the role limiting the user to a subset of operations performed by the system, characterized in that each cryptographic module stores information about a number of last transactions in a respective internal register, the database stores a table including the respective information about a last transaction; a verification module to compare the information saved in the module with the information saved in the table before proceeding with the next transaction, wherein one of the plurality of cryptographic modules is a master cryptographic module and generates a master key set MKS, which includes a Master Encryption Key used to encrypt keys when stored outside the master cryptographic module and a Master Authentication Key used to compute a DES MAC for signing keys when stored outside of the master cryptographic module, and wherein the MKS is encrypted and authenticated before it is exported to other cryptograpic modules, by the master cryptographic module. a plurality of user terminals coupled to the computer network; a database including information about one or more users using the plurality of terminals; a plurality of cryptographic modules remote from the plurality of user terminals and coupled to the computer network, wherein the cryptographic modules include a computer executable code for authenticating one or more users, wherein each of the plurality of cryptographic modules is available for use by any of the users, and wherein each cryptographic module is not dedicated to particular user terminals; and a plurality of security device transaction data stored in the database for ensuring authenticity of the one or more users, wherein each security device transaction data is related to a user, wherein any cryptographic module authenticates the identity of each user and authenticates the user for a role, the role limiting the user to a subset of operations performed by the system, characterized in that each cryptographic module stores information about a number of last transactions in a respective internal register, the database stores a table including the respective information about a last transaction; a verification module to compare the information saved in the module with the information saved in the table before proceeding with the next transaction, wherein one of the plurality of cryptographic modules is a master cryptographic module and generates a master key set MKS, which includes a Master Encryption Key used to encrypt keys when stored outside the master cryptographic module and a Master Authentication Key used to compute a DES MAC for signing keys when stored outside of the master cryptographic module, and wherein the MKS is encrypted and authenticated before it is exported to other cryptograpic modules, by the master cryptographic module.