Italian authorities have confirmed they have requested additional security around the wreck of the luxury yacht Bayesian, which sank in August, killing seven people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch.
Concerns have been raised that materials locked in watertight safes onboard may attract the interest of foreign governments.
Citing unnamed sources, Italian prosecutors fear that thieves may attempt to loot the wreckage to retrieve expensive jewelry and other valuables, as well as intelligence data.
Authorities are particularly concerned about two highly encrypted hard drives stored in the yacht’s watertight safes, which could pose a risk if they fall into the wrong hands.
These hard drives are believed to contain sensitive information that could be of interest to foreign governments such as Russia and China.
The Bayesian sank during a violent storm off the coast of Sicily on August 19, resulting in the deaths of seven of the 22 passengers and crew onboard. Among the victims were Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah.
Italian authorities confirmed that the hard drives may be a target for foreign governments. As a result, a formal request for additional security measures, including both surface and underwater surveillance of the wreck, has been implemented.
“A formal request has been accepted and implemented for additional security of the wreckage until it can be raised,” Francesco Venuto, from the Sicilian civil protection agency, told.
Lynch was reportedly known for not trusting cloud services, instead choosing to keep his data on physical hard drives. Survivors told prosecutors that Lynch always kept sensitive information with him.
Lynch had connections to intelligence agencies in the UK, US, and elsewhere. Earlier this year, he sold Darktrace, a cybersecurity AI company he founded, to US billionaire Orlando Bravo in a $5 billion deal.
Sunken Russian Superyacht Bayesian
Darktrace, based in Cambridge, was co-founded in 2013 by Stephen Huxter, a former senior member of MI5’s cyber defense team, and employed notable figures such as Andrew France, a 30-year veteran of GCHQ, and Jim Penrose, a 17-year veteran of the US National Security Agency. Former MI5 head Jonathan Evans also sat on the company’s board.
Lynch’s previous company, Autonomy, which he sold to Hewlett-Packard in 2011, was also linked to UK and US government agencies and specialized in advanced computer eavesdropping systems.
An official involved in the salvage operation, who wished to remain anonymous, told that there is a risk that Lynch’s hard drives could contain highly classified information, such as passwords or other sensitive data, which might fall into foreign hands.
Divers have been using remote cameras to search the wreck before any salvage efforts. They expect to complete their assessment of the site within the next week.
Italian prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into the sinking of the 184-foot yacht.
The sinking occurred while Lynch, along with family members, his lawyer, and his banker, were celebrating his acquittal in June on fraud charges linked to Autonomy’s $11 billion sale to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
In a recent statement, Hewlett-Packard announced plans to pursue $4 billion in civil litigation against Lynch’s estate, arguing that this was “in the best interest of shareholders” following a 2022 UK civil court judgment related to the acquisition.
The storm that sank the Bayesian claimed the lives of Lynch; his daughter Hannah; American attorney Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda; British banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy; and the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas.
Local prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio told that no personal belongings, including jewelry, computers, or Lynch’s hard drives, have been recovered from the wreck so far.
However, equipment related to the navigation system was salvaged to aid in determining why the yacht sank within minutes of the storm, despite being built to withstand such conditions, while other nearby vessels remained afloat.
