fig1 is a block diagram of an exemplary scada system 10 . the scada system 10 includes a control center ( cc ) 20 operatively coupled to a first substation 14 and a second substation 16 of a power system via a scada communication network 18 . the control center 12 includes an operator display / control panel 21 operatively coupled to a scada master 22 . the first substation 14 is monitored by a first ied 24 , and the second substation 16 is monitored by second and third ieds 26 and 28 . as illustrated in fig1 , each of the ieds 24 , 26 , 28 are configured to measure line current , bus voltage and switch positions , and cause actions to be taken based on commands from an operator via the operator display / control panel 21 . during operation , the scada master 22 controls acquisition of information / data from each of the ieds 24 , 26 , 28 and displays the information / data on the operator display / control panel 21 . decisions are then made by an operator based on the information / data and the results of those decisions are forwarded to the appropriate ied ( s ) via the scada master 22 . also during operation , the ieds measure line current , bus voltage and switch positions , transmit those measurements over the scada communication network 18 to the scada master 22 , and respond to commands sent via the operator display / control panel 20 over the scada communication network 18 to perform selected tasks such as enabling additional electric power to be supplied to a particular load of the associated power system . as previously mentioned , scada communication networks are vulnerable to electronic intrusions by an eavesdropper . fig2 is a block diagram of a scada system 50 including a number of cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 . the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 are capable of synchronized commissioning without individual manual intervention and capable of synchronized parameter values change without long scada system outages according to an embodiment of the invention . when in secure mode operation , the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 provide encryption / decryption and authentication for data transmitted via the scada system 50 . referring to fig2 , the scada system 50 includes the control center 52 operatively coupled to a first substation 54 and a second substation 56 of a power system via the scada communication network 18 . the control center 52 includes the operator display / control panel 21 operatively coupled to the scada master 22 . the first substation 54 is monitored by the first ied 24 , and the second substation 56 is monitored by the second ied 26 and the third ied 28 . as illustrated in fig2 , each of the ieds 24 , 26 , 28 are configured to measure line current , bus voltage and switch positions , and cause actions to be taken based on commands from an operator via the operator display / control panel 20 . although adapted for an electrical power system , it is contemplated that the scada system 50 may be adapted for use in any number of systems such as natural gas delivery systems , transportation or communications systems , waste water treatment and fresh water delivery , etc . further , although configured with three ieds , it is contemplated that the scada system 50 may include many ieds capable of many different configurations . each of the ieds 24 , 26 , 28 and the scada master 22 is operatively coupled to respective cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 . as illustrated , the first cryptographic device 60 is operatively coupled to the first ied 24 , the second cryptographic device 62 is operatively coupled to the second ied 26 , the third cryptographic device 64 is operatively coupled to the third ied 28 , and the fourth cryptographic device 66 is operatively coupled to the scada master 22 . for ease of discussion the fourth cryptographic device is referred to hereinafter as the master cryptographic device 66 . during operation , data originating from ieds 24 , 26 , 28 is encrypted before being transmitted via the scada communication network 18 . transmitted data received by the control center 52 it is then decrypted and authenticated by the master cryptographic device 66 before it is passed to the scada master 22 . likewise , control commands from the scada master 22 or elsewhere in the control center 52 are encrypted by the master cryptographic device 66 before they are delivered to the scada communication network 18 . the receiving cryptographic device ( e . g ., the cryptographic device 60 ) then decrypts and authenticates the control commands before they are passed to the associated ied ( e . g ., the ied 24 ) whereupon an ied function is performed . cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 operate to conceal transmitted data via one of any number of well - known encryption protocols ( e . g ., advanced encryption standard ( aes ), data encryption standard ( des ), triple des , desx , crypt ( 3 ), des with key - dependent s - boxes ). when in a secure operating mode , each of the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 installed in a data path between respective ieds 24 , 26 , 28 and the scada master 22 , prevent an unauthorized eavesdropper 70 from accessing the data or control command / message content transmitted via the scada communication network 18 . fig3 is a more detailed diagram of the master cryptographic device 66 according to an embodiment of the invention . although not separately discussed in detail , it should be understood that each of the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 are similarly configured and operable . referring to fig3 , the master cryptographic device 66 includes a first interface , or trusted interface 80 , configured to be connected to an ied or scada master , and a second interface , or un - trusted interface 82 , configured to be connected to the scada communication network 18 . a third interface or maintenance interface 84 may also be included for maintenance purposes such as configuring , controlling , or temporarily monitoring the cryptographic device 66 . in some instances the maintenance interface 84 is included on the same physical interface as the trusted interface 80 or the un - trusted interface 82 . further , for cryptographic device versatility , the trusted interface 80 may be configurable as an un - trusted interface 82 , and the un - trusted interface 82 may be configurable as the trusted interface 80 . in other words , the interfaces 80 and 82 may be configured as either trusted or un - trusted interfaces as previously mentioned , during operation , the master cryptographic device 66 encrypts data received from the scada master 22 via the trusted interface 80 before transmitting it via the un - trusted interface 82 . conversely , the master cryptographic device 66 decrypts data received via the un - trusted interface 82 before transmitting it via the trusted interface 80 . the master cryptographic device 66 also includes a microcontroller 85 having a microprocessor 86 and a memory 88 operatively coupled to the microprocessor 86 . the memory 88 is configured to store cryptographic device parameters such as data rates , and cryptographic device data such as the encryption key and programs or routines that enable synchronized commissioning and a synchronized parameter values change . first and second data ports 90 , 92 couple the microcontroller 85 to the trusted interface 80 and the un - trusted interface 82 , respectively . similarly , a maintenance data port 94 couples the microcontroller 85 to the maintenance interface 84 . during operation , the microprocessor 86 , executing a program stored in a program storage block 87 of the memory 88 performs inter alia , encryption , decryption and authentication . resulting intermediate and temporary data is stored in a data storage block 89 of the memory 88 . during operation , the microprocessor 86 also performs inter alia , retrieval and optional modification of parameters that define various attributes of cryptographic device operation ( e . g ., data rates , which of port 1 and port 2 are the trusted and un - trusted ports , encryption keys , etc .). the parameters are stored in a parameter storage block 91 of the memory 88 . as previously mentioned , cryptographic devices may be manually placed in a pass - through mode , making the cryptographic devices in the pass - through mode transparent to the scada communication network . such transparency may be desired when a number of cryptographic devices are being installed or reconfigured with parameter updates , etc . unfortunately , an installer has to travel from prior art cryptographic device to prior art cryptographic device to manually place them in and or remove them from pass - through mode . during that time period , communication between the scada master and the ieds is compromised as described above . unlike prior art installed cryptographic devices that require individual manual intervention to transition from the pass - through mode operation to secure mode operation , the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 are configured to enable synchronized commissioning . that is , the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 are configured to transition from a first mode , or the pass - through mode , to a second mode operation , or secure mode operation , in response to a command received from another cryptographic device or another device connected to the scada communication network 18 . as a result , scada system downtime is reduced . further , unlike prior art installed cryptographic devices , the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 are configured to enable a synchronized parameter values change . that is , the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 are configured to transition from secure mode operation based on a first set of stored configuration parameters , to secure mode operation based on a second set of stored configuration parameters , in response to a command received from another cryptographic device or another device connected to the scada communication network 18 . as a result , scada system downtime is reduced . fig4 is a flowchart of a synchronized commissioning process 400 according to the present invention . performance of the synchronized commissioning process 400 reduces scada system down - time when installing cryptographic devices on an existing scada communication network 18 and when transitioning the installed cryptographic devices from a pass - through mode to secure mode operation . for ease of discussion , the microcontroller 85 of the master cryptographic device 66 acts as a “ master ” controlling the synchronized commissioning process 400 . the microcontrollers of the remaining cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 respond as “ slaves ” to messages from the microcontroller 85 . it should be understood however , that the microcontrollers of the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 may act as the master or the slave , or that another suitably configured scada system device may act as the master . fig5 is a ladder diagram 500 of an exemplary communication flow between the master cryptographic device 66 and the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 during the synchronized commissioning process 400 . although the ladder diagram 500 illustrates one communication flow that occurs during the synchronized commissioning process 400 , it is contemplated that other communication flows may be implemented to enable the synchronized commissioning process 400 . referring to fig4 and 5 , the synchronized commissioning process 400 begins when the microcontroller 85 detects receipt of a begin sync commissioning command 502 ( step 402 ). the begin sync commissioning command 502 may be initiated in one of any number of ways using one of any number of methods . for example , the begin sync commissioning command 502 may result from an operator input received via the maintenance interface 84 . the begin sync commissioning command 502 may also result from actuation of a switch , button , etc . on the master cryptographic device 66 . prior to installation , each of the plurality of cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 is pre - configured with a first set of parameter values that include an encryption key , a cryptographic device configuration , a data rate , a maximum data frame length , a maximum dead time , a number of data bits , a number of stop bits and a parity bit configuration , etc . each of the plurality of cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 is also pre - configured to be in a pass - through mode when first installed and pre - configured to participate in the synchronization commissioning process upon receipt of a suitable commissioning command from the master cryptographic device 66 . during installation of cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , respective ied operation and communication to the scada master 22 is interrupted only during the time the data path is interrupted . that is , operation of and communication from the ied to the scada master 22 is interrupted from the time an installer disconnects a data communications cable from its respective ied to install the cryptographic device , to the time the cryptographic device is operational in the pass - through mode . thus , the time the data path is interrupted is measured in minutes , rather than in the days and weeks required for installation of prior art cryptographic devices using prior art installation methods . similarly , during installation of the cryptographic device 66 between the scada master 22 and the scada communication network 18 , communication to all ieds is interrupted only during the time the data path is interrupted , a time again measured in minutes . when first installed and in pass - through mode , the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 are transparent to the scada system 50 and therefore the scada system 50 operates much like the scada system 10 of fig1 . referring again to fig4 and 5 , upon receipt of the begin sync commissioning command 502 , the microcontroller 85 of the master cryptographic devices 66 begins the process of transitioning each of the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 from pass - through mode to secure mode operation to secure the scada communication network 18 against electronic intrusion by an eavesdropper . the previously stored parameter values stored in the memories of respective cryptographic devices are also placed into operation . the transition to secure mode operation begins when the master cryptographic device 66 broadcasts a predetermined number of escape sequence commands 504 to cause the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 to temporarily suspend the pass - through mode upon receipt of one escape sequence messages 504 ( step 404 ). the escape sequence messages 504 is preferably a string of characters unlikely to be generated by the underlying protocol , followed by a predetermined idle time period during which no data is transmitted by the master cryptographic device 66 . it should be understood however , that the escape sequence command 504 may be any suitably configured command that operates to temporarily suspend the pass - through mode . after broadcasting a series of escape sequence commands 504 , the master cryptographic device 66 begins exchanging a series of commands / messages in a sequential or polling fashion , with each of the slave cryptographic device 60 , 62 , 64 to ensure that each is properly configured for synchronized commissioning . the master cryptographic device 66 may begin the sequential polling by transmitting a status request command 506 to a first slave cryptographic device , or the slave cryptographic device 60 ( step 406 ). the slave cryptographic device 60 may respond in one of two ways . if it is not properly configured for synchronized commissioning , it will respond with a negative acknowledgement ( nack ) message to the master cryptographic device 66 . in other words , the nack message indicates a non - readiness to participate in the synchronized commissioning , or a non - readiness state . if the slave cryptographic device 60 is properly configured for synchronized commissioning , it will respond with a ready acknowledgement ( rdy ) message and a “ challenge value ” 508 to the master cryptographic device 66 . the challenge value is used for encrypting / decrypting and authentication purposes . upon receiving a nack message from the slave cryptographic device 60 , the microcontroller 85 causes the synchronized commissioning process 400 to be aborted . after a predetermined time period , all of the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 revert back to pass - through mode ( step 407 ). similarly , if no response is received from the slave cryptographic device 60 within a predetermined time period , the microcontroller 85 causes the synchronized commissioning process 400 to be aborted and all of the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 to revert back to pass - through mode ( step 407 ). conversely , upon receiving the rdy message and challenge value 508 from the slave cryptographic device 60 , the microcontroller 85 proceeds with the synchronized commissioning process 400 ( step 408 ). the microcontroller 85 first encrypts the challenge value with its master encryption key to form an encrypted challenge value ( step 410 ), and then causes a prepare for sync commissioning command 510 to be transmitted to the slave cryptographic device 60 ( step 412 ). the prepare for sync commissioning command 510 includes the encrypted challenge value calculated by the microcontroller 85 . when received , the encrypted challenge value is decrypted by the microcontroller of the slave cryptographic device 60 to form a decrypted challenge value , and then compares the decrypted challenge value to the original challenge value generated by the slave cryptographic device 60 . if the decrypted challenge value does not match the original challenge value , the slave cryptographic device 60 responds with a nack message to the master cryptographic device 66 . upon receipt of the nack message , the master cryptographic device 66 determines whether a predetermined number of status request commands 506 have been previously sent to the slave cryptographic device 60 . if the predetermined number of status request commands 506 have not been previously sent to the slave cryptographic device 60 , the microcontroller 85 again causes the status request message 506 to be transmitted to the slave cryptographic device 60 ( step 406 ). the message exchange between the master cryptographic device 66 and the slave cryptographic device 60 repeats until the predetermined number of status request commands 506 to the slave cryptographic device 60 have been reached or until receipt of an armed message 512 from the slave cryptographic device 60 . if the predetermined number of status request commands 506 have been sent to the slave cryptographic device 60 , the microcontroller 85 causes the synchronized commissioning process 400 to be aborted and the master cryptographic device 66 reverts back to pass - though mode operation . after a predetermined time period , all of the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 to revert back to pass - through mode operation ( step 407 ). thus when not armed and executed within a time limit , the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 revert back to pass - through mode if the decrypted challenge value matches the original challenge value , the slave cryptographic device 60 responds to the master cryptographic device 66 with the armed message 512 to indicate a ready condition for synchronized commissioning . in other words , the armed message 512 indicates a readiness to participate in the synchronized commissioning . upon receipt of the armed message 512 from the slave cryptographic device 60 , the microcontroller 85 causes the status request command 506 to be transmitted to the second slave cryptographic device 62 . the process is repeated for each slave cryptographic device of the scada system 50 . if any of the slave cryptographic devices of the scada system 50 respond with a nack message , the master cryptographic device 66 causes the synchronized commissioning process 400 to be aborted . when all of the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 have been poled and have responded with the armed message 512 indicating a ready condition for synchronized commissioning , the microcontroller 85 causes a pre - determined number of execute commands 514 to be simultaneously broadcast to the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 to place them in secure mode operation ( step 416 ). the master cryptographic device 66 begins secure mode operation ( encrypting and encrypting according to the previously programmed secret encryption key and other operational parameters ) after the last execute command 514 is broadcast . the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 begin secure mode operation upon receipt of the execute command 514 , provided the slave cryptographic device ( s ) 60 , 62 , 64 have previously successfully transmitted the armed message 512 . performance of the synchronized commissioning process 400 via the serial polling scheme described above yields a total time elapsed between the first escape sequence command 504 and the last execute command 514 , of less than one second . during that very brief time period , scada communications between the master cryptographic device 66 and the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 are temporarily non - operational . as may be apparent from the above discussion , the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 authenticate commands and requests transmitted from the master encryption device 66 using an encrypted challenge / response scheme . it should be understood however , that other well known authentications schemes may be used . as described in connection with fig3 , during operation of the master cryptographic device 66 , the microprocessor 86 performs inter alia , retrieval and optional modification of the first set of parameters that define various attributes of cryptographic device operation ( e . g ., data rates , which of port 1 and port 2 are the trusted and un - trusted ports , encryption keys , etc .). the first set of parameters values is stored in the parameter storage block 91 of the memory 88 . in some cases it may be necessary to change or update one or more of the parameter values of the first set of parameter values to form a second set of parameter values . for example , it may be necessary to change the encryption keys used by the master cryptographic device 66 and all of the slave cryptographic devices of the scada system 50 . using prior art methods , as each installed cryptographic device is undergoing a parameter value change ( e . g ., an encryption key change ), communication is lost between the scada master loses and the scada communication network segment associated with that ied . as each installed cryptographic devices is visited by an installer to change parameter values , the scada master loses communication that ied until all cryptographic devices , one - by - one , have undergone parameter value changes . the lack of power system monitoring due to lack of communication between the ieds that have undergone the parameter value change and the scada master may continue for days or even weeks , depending on how long it takes an installer ( s ) to visit all of the sites of the scada system . moreover , if the parameter value ( s ) of the cryptographic device associated with the scada master are updated first , then the scada master will lose communications with all equipment on the scada communication network until all of the parameters values of the remaining cryptographic devices are similarly updated . fig6 is a flowchart of a synchronized parameter values change process 600 according to the present invention . performance of the synchronized parameter values change process 600 reduces scada system down - time when parameter values are changed or updated in installed cryptographic devices of the scada system 50 . for ease of discussion , the microcontroller 85 of the master cryptographic device 66 acts as a master controlling the synchronized parameter values change process 600 . the microcontrollers of the remaining cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 respond as slaves to commands from the master cryptographic device 66 . it should be understood however , that the microcontrollers of the cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 may act as the master or the slave , or that another suitably configured scada system device may act as the master . fig7 is a ladder diagram 700 of an exemplary communication flow between the master cryptographic device 66 and the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 during the synchronized parameter values change process 600 . although the ladder diagram 700 illustrates one communication flow that occurs during the synchronized parameter values change 700 , it is contemplated that other communication flows may be implemented to enable the synchronized parameter values change 700 . a second set of parameter values , previously installed in the memories of respective cryptographic devices by an installer traveling from cryptographic device to cryptographic device , remain inactive until activated by the microcontroller 85 . as a result , operation of the cryptographic devices using the first set of parameter values remains unaffected during and after installation of the second set of parameter values until the second set of parameter values are activated by the microcontroller 85 . referring to fig6 and 7 , the synchronized parameter values change process 600 begins when , upon receipt of a begin sync parameter change command 702 , the microcontroller 85 of the master cryptographic device 66 begins the process of transitioning each of the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 from a first set of parameter values to a second set of parameter values . after receiving the begin sync parameter change command 702 , the master cryptographic device 66 begins exchanging a series of commands / messages in a sequential , or polling fashion , with each of the slave cryptographic device 60 , 62 , 64 . the microcontroller 85 may begin the sequential polling by transmitting a status request command 704 to a first slave cryptographic device , or the slave cryptographic device 60 ( step 604 ). the slave cryptographic device 60 may respond in one of two ways . if it is not properly configured to allow the synchronized parameter values change , it will respond with a negative acknowledgement ( nack ) message to the master cryptographic device 66 , and if it is properly configured to allow the synchronized parameter values change , it will respond with a ready acknowledgement ( rdy ) message and a “ challenge value ” 706 to the master cryptographic device 66 . the challenge value is used for encrypting / decrypting and authentication purposes . upon receiving a nack message from the slave cryptographic device 60 , the microcontroller 85 causes the synchronized parameter values change process 600 to be aborted . similarly , if no response is received from the slave cryptographic device 60 within a predetermined time period , the microcontroller 85 causes the synchronized parameter values change process 600 to be aborted ( step 605 ). conversely , upon receiving the rdy message and challenge value 508 from the slave cryptographic device 60 , the microcontroller 85 proceeds with the synchronized parameter values change process 600 ( step 606 ). the microcontroller 85 first encrypts the challenge value with its master encryption key to form an encrypted challenge value ( step 608 ), and then causes a prepare for sync parameter values change command 708 to be transmitted to the slave cryptographic device 60 ( step 610 ). the prepare for sync parameter values change command 708 includes the encrypted challenge value calculated by the microcontroller 85 . when received , the encrypted challenge value is decrypted by the microcontroller of the slave cryptographic device 60 to form a decrypted challenge value , and compared to the original challenge value generated by the slave cryptographic device 60 . if the decrypted challenge value does not match the original challenge value , the slave cryptographic device 60 responds with a nack message to the master cryptographic device 66 . upon receipt of the nack message , the microcontroller 85 determines whether a predetermined number of status request commands 704 have been previously sent to the slave cryptographic device 60 . if the predetermined number of status request commands 704 have not been previously sent to the slave cryptographic device 60 , the microcontroller 86 again cause the status request command 704 to be transmitted to the slave cryptographic device 60 ( step 604 ). the message exchange between the master cryptographic device 66 and the slave cryptographic device 60 repeats until the predetermined number of status request commands 704 to the slave cryptographic device 60 have been reached or until receipt of an armed message 710 from the slave cryptographic device 60 . if the predetermined number of status request messages 702 has been sent to the slave cryptographic device 60 , the microcontroller 85 causes the synchronized parameter values change process 600 to be aborted ( step 605 ). if the decrypted challenge value matches the original challenge value , the slave cryptographic device 60 responds to the master cryptographic device 66 with the armed message 710 to indicate a ready condition for synchronized parameter values change . upon receipt of the armed message 710 from the slave cryptographic device 60 ( step 612 ), the microcontroller 85 causes the status request command 704 to be transmitted to the second slave cryptographic device 62 . the process is repeated for each slave cryptographic device of the scada system 50 . if any of the slave cryptographic devices of the scada system 50 respond with a nack message , the microcontroller 85 causes the synchronized parameter values change process 600 to be aborted . when all of the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 have been poled and have responded with the armed message 710 indicating a ready condition for synchronized parameter values change , the microcontroller 85 causes a pre - determined number of execute commands 712 to be simultaneously broadcasted to the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 to cause them to begin operating using the second set of parameter values ( step 614 ). the master cryptographic device 66 begins secure mode operation using the second set of parameter values after the last execute command 712 is broadcast . the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 begin secure mode operation using the second set of parameter values upon receipt of the execute command 712 , provided the slave cryptographic device ( s ) 60 , 62 , 64 have previously successfully transmitted the armed message 710 . performance of the synchronized parameter values change process 600 via the serial polling scheme described above yields a total time elapsed between transmission of the first execute command 712 and the last execute command 712 , of less than one - tenth of one second . during that very brief time , scada communications between the master cryptographic device 66 and the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 are temporarily non - operational . as may be apparent from the above discussion , the slave cryptographic devices 60 , 62 , 64 authenticate commands and requests transmitted from the master encryption device 66 using an encrypted challenge / response scheme . it should be understood however , that other well known authentications schemes may be used . as may also be apparent from the above discussion , the method and apparatus disclosed herein greatly reduces network downtime during installation and commissioning of cryptographic devices in a scada communication network , without compromising network security . the method and apparatus disclosed herein also greatly reduces network downtime during a parameter values change to the cryptographic devices of the scada communication network without compromising network security . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described for purposes of illustration , it should be understood that various changes , modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in the embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention which is defined in the claims which follow .