Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Marcin Stalmach

Over at CNET, industry analyst Jon Oltsik (of the Enterprise Strategy Group) writes that while he's grown pretty cynical about industry standards in general, he's "bullish on IEEE 1667," a.k.a. the Standard Protocol for Authentication in Host Attachments of Transient Storage Devices.

As Oltsik explains, it's all about enterprise security. "We all have a plethora of flash drives, MP3 players, and USB disk drives," he writes. "Yes, these may be a great way to replicate music or transport files, but they also create a huge security vulnerability. When you plug in the 250 GB drive you bought at Fry's Electronics at lunch, you can steal a heck of a lot of data.
When IEEE 1667 is in place, the risks associated with this vulnerability decrease substantially because only authenticated devices will be accepted. I can provide my employees with specific types of IEEE 1667-compliant devices that can be authenticated and used. All others, including that device you bought at Fry's Electronics, won't work. Assuming that you can audit the use of these devices, this provides security without compromising usability - a win-win in the security management world..."

With Microsoft backing IEEE 1667, Oltsik suggests, "Let's all follow Redmond's lead in this case for the greater good..."

More here from Electronista ... more here from Neowin ... more here from Engadget ... more here from Icrontic ... and more here from SlashGear.