IEEE 1667 Format Makes For Cross-Platform USB Drive Security

There have been a lot of problems caused by people bringing in storage devices from home to their workplace. While most people who do this bring in clean drives, others might bring in those with viruses or those that are improperly formatted. Things like this can cause problems on the network and pose a security risk. But with the new IEEE 1667 format standard, things should be getting better.

The IEEE 1667 format will make it so USB drives, external hard drives and PMPs like iPods can be used and authenticated by a host computer on a network. This makes it so companies will be able make a list of approved devices to be used on their computers. This keeps out the more unsavory devices and maintains a secure network across the board.

This new format is not dependent on any one platform and will work across different operating systems. However, Microsoft is the only OS builder that has acknowledged support of the format so far and note it will be included in Windows 7.