Is it possible to limit remote access to the ION 7x50 & ION 8650 meters' setup/configuration registers or modules?

Issue
How to limit remote access to the PowerLogic ION 7550/7650/8650's configuration registers and modules while communicating over ION or Modbus protocol. The meter is still required to communicate to a power monitoring software or SCADA system for data collection and analysis.

Product Line
PowerLogic ION 7550, 7650, 8650 meters

Environment
ION 7x50 meters, ION Setup v3.0

Cause
As a result of the growing threat of cyber security and the meter being wired to sensitive equipment, the customer would like to disable any ability to modify configuration registers and/or modules remotely.

Resolution
Communicating over ION protocol:

It is not possible to restrict remote access to the meter for the purpose of configuration and/or modification of the meter's ION modules. One may setup read/write, time sync and configuration access permissions via the meter's Advanced Security feature in ION Setup.

ION Setup will require that at least one user is setup with 'Full Meter Config access' and thus the vulnerability of remote access remains.

Refer to Chapter 5 of the PowerLogic ION 7550/7650 User Guide for further information regarding Advanced Security setup.

Refer to Chapter 6 of the PowerLogic ION 8650 User Guide for further information regarding Advanced Security setup.

Communicating over Modbus RTU protocol:

The remote access to the PowerLogic ION 7550/7650/8650's configuration registers may be disabled by setting the 'Modbus Map Access' register to NO.

If advanced security is enabled and this register is set to NO, access via Modbus is limited to Modbus registers managed by Modbus Slave modules. In other words, all access to configuration and control registers are blocked. The device responds with Modbus exception value 2 if an attempt is made to read these registers.
If this register is set to YES, the entire Modbus Map can be accessed.

Setting the Modbus Map Access Register:

1. Right-click on the meter device in the ION Setup window and select properties. Within the device properties window, select the 'Tools' tab and change the 'Device Setup' to 'Show Advanced ION Setup' in the drop-down list and click OK. As a shortcut, you may also hold down the 'CTRL' key and click on the meter.

2. Select the 'Security Options Modules' from the modules list and double-click on 'Security Options 1' to access the module within the folder.

3. Click on the 'Setup Registers' tab within the 'Security Options 1' windows and highlight 'SOP1 Modbus Map Access' as shown in the screenshot below.

4. Click on 'Edit', select 'No' from the drop-down menu and click 'OK'.

5. Click on 'Send' to download the new configuration and changes to the meter.