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OTTAWA — Fearing it may lose sensitive information on First Nations peoples, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs decided earlier this year to ban the use of USB keys to transport data — then realized instituting the new rule without an alternate plan was doomed to fail.

That conclusion came after a security blitz in March that found “vulnerabilities that needed to be addressed” within the department, according to a briefing note to the deputy minister. That briefing note went on to say that a ban on the use of portable data devices “is known,” but enshrining it in policy was no simple task.

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“Issuing direction before it can be enforced and before the tools are available to support compliance, encourages people to disregard it. This increases the risk of intentional breaches,” the note says.

That note is dated July 29.

By the end of 2013, Aboriginal Affairs plans to put an end to the use of unsecured portable data devices across the department “to enhance the security of information,” a spokeswoman said. The department says it has spent $75,000 to buy 700 secure USB keys that are being distributed to workers.