Italian authorities have requested heightened security around Mike Lynch’s sunken superyacht, over fears that safes on board contain highly sensitive intelligence data, according to reports.
The Bayesian sank during a fierce storm off the coast of Sicily a month ago, killing seven, including British tech tycoon Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, and other passengers and crew. Fifteen people survived.
Since the shocking accident, Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into the conduct of the yacht’s captain.
Meanwhile, specialist divers have requested additional protection to guard the vessel over concerns that watertight safes on board may hold sensitive data tied to Western intelligence services, CNN reported.
Italian media first reported the possibility that sensitive data was on board last week.
Initially, authorities feared the vessel would be looted for jewelry and other valuables on board, unnamed divers from the local fire brigade told CNN.
However, it’s now believed that the safes contain two super-encrypted hard drives, the outlet reported, citing an unnamed official involved with the salvage operation.
The security request includes both surface and underwater surveillance, officials told CNN.
A source with the Italian prosecutor’s office told CNN that survivors said Lynch “did not trust cloud services” and always kept data on locked-away hard drives when he sailed.
Officials believe the information on the hard drives could be of interest to both the Russian and Chinese governments, divers told the outlet.
Lynch had ties to intelligence services through companies such as Darktrace, a cybersecurity startup.
Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, who survived the incident, was also an advisor to two successive British prime ministers on matters of technology and cybersecurity, CNN reported.
The Bayesian, which is now 164 feet underwater, is believed to have taken 16 minutes to go down.
Italian media and Reuters reported that Lynch, along with a further four victims, likely suffocated inside the stricken vessel.
The gathering on board the $40 million vessel was to celebrate the end of a lengthy legal battle that saw the tech tycoon acquitted of all counts in a criminal case in which he was accused of lying about the value of one of his companies, Autonomy, during its sale to Hewlett Packard.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise confirmed in early September that it will continue to pursue its $4 billion case against Lynch’s estate.
