A system 100 for providing credentials to a computational component in a distributed processing network is provided. The system 100 includes: (a) a plurality of crypto-tokens 150a-n, each crypto-token 150a-n comprising a unique identifier, optionally a digital certificate comprising a unique public key and the unique identifier, and a private key corresponding to the public key; (b) a provisioning system 100 comprising a certificate authority 104 operable to generate the plurality of crypto-tokens 150a-n; and (c) a computational component 128 comprising a drive operable to receive and communicate with a selected crypto-token 150. The computational component 128 uses the digital certificate and private key in any of the crypto-tokens 150a-n to establish a secured communication session with the provisioning system 100. Before the establishing operation, any of the plurality of crypto-tokens 150a-n can be engaged with the computational component 128 to establish the secure communication session.