Systems and methods are disclosed herein relating to the secure configuration of intelligent electronic devices. Intelligent electronic devices are used in electric power generation and transmission systems for protection, control, automation, and/or monitoring of equipment. The use of tokens and token-based digital signatures in the configuration process of intelligent electronic devices reduces the likelihood of malicious acts or unintended errors. Tokens distributed to engineers, technicians, intelligent electronic devices, computing devices, and/or software decrease the likelihood of errors being introduced in the configuration process.