A system, method, and article of manufacture are provided for pricing a cryptographic
service on a network utilizing one or more cryptoservers. A request for a cryptographic
service is received from a user utilizing a network. The request is received by
a cryptographic service provider. A contract is generated based on a variable pricing
scheme in response to the request. The contract is sent from the cryptographic
service provider to the user utilizing the network. A method is also provided for
auditing a security provision on a network utilizing a cryptoserver. A cryptographic
key is obtained such as by obtaining it from a trusted source or generating the
key. A plurality of users are allowed to request that a cryptoserver use the cryptographic
key to sign a message in violation of a security provision. It is determined whether
the cryptoserver signed the message in response to the request. An indication of
failed security integrity is provided upon determining that the cryptographic server
has signed the message.