In the tech industry, it's now a best practice to conduct and publish a blameless post-mortem of software failures and data loss. As the name suggests, a blameless post-mortem does not seek to point fingers. Instead, its aim is to create a fair and just accounting of what mistakes were made in the lead up to the failure and what was done in response.

We petition Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to direct that a blameless post-mortem be conducted of the March 2018 ransomware attack, and for the writeup to be shared with the public.

The civil servants of the City of Atlanta have had a trying few weeks. Only by removing the possibility of blame and punishment will a comprehensive, accurate picture of the attack emerge. And with that clarity, the City of Atlanta can make the necessary improvements to infrastructure and policy to mitigate future attacks.

The City of Atlanta has an opportunity to set a positive example for how municipalities respond to and recover from cyber attacks. A published blameless post-mortem would be an invaluable resource for governments at all levels as well as industry experts in cybersecurity (many of whom are located right here in Atlanta).