Italian authorities have confirmed they have requested extra security around the wreck of the luxury yacht “Bayesian”, which sank in August killing seven people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, amid concerns that documents in a watertight safe on board could attract the interest of foreign governments.
Italian prosecutors fear thieves may try to access the wreckage to steal valuables such as expensive jewellery and intelligence data from the ship, CNN reported, citing anonymous sources.
Authorities are reportedly concerned that two highly encrypted hard drives that were kept in a watertight safe on the sunken yacht could fall into the wrong hands.
The ship sank after encountering a severe storm off the coast of Sicily on August 19, killing seven of the 22 passengers and crew on board, including Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter.
Italian authorities acknowledged to Cable News that the hard drive could attract interest from foreign governments, including Russia and China, and called for the ship to be closely monitored both above and below the surface.
“A formal request for additional security until the wreckage can be salvaged has been received and implemented,” Francesco Venuto of the Sicilian Civil Defense told CNN.
Concerns centre around a hard drive that Lynch is said to have carried around with him: victims have reportedly told Italian prosecutors that he took the data with him because he “did not trust (internet) cloud services”.
Lynch, who is believed to have ties to British, US and other intelligence agencies, sold the cybersecurity and artificial intelligence company he founded, Darktrace, to US billionaire Orlando Bravo, co-founder and managing partner of Chicago-based Thoma Bravo, for $5 billion earlier this year.
The Cambridge-based company was co-founded in 2013 by Stephen Huxter, a former senior member of MI5’s cyber defence team who later became Darktrace’s managing director.
Huxter has hired Andrew France, who spent 30 years with the British intelligence and security agency GCHQ, as CEO of the company. Former MI5 director Jonathan Evans also sits on Darktrace’s board, along with other national security figures, including Jim Penrose, who spent 17 years at the US National Security Agency, according to Politico.
Lynch’s previous company, Autonomy, which he sold to Hewlett-Packard in 2011, also had ties to British and US government agencies and reportedly specialized in “sophisticated computer eavesdropping systems”.
CNN reported that unnamed officials involved in the rescue plans had raised the risk that Lynch’s hard drive, which contains highly classified information including passcodes and other sensitive data, could fall into the hands of a foreign actor.
Divers are searching the Bayesian with remote cameras before it is salvaged and are expected to complete their search for the wreck within the next week.
Italian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the sinking of the 184-foot yacht, coming as Lynch, his family, lawyers and bankers were celebrating his June acquittal on fraud charges related to Autonomy Inc.’s 2011 $11 billion sale to Hewlett-Packard Co.
Hewlett-Packard recently said it plans to pursue a $4 billion civil lawsuit against Lynch’s heirs in a 2022 UK civil court ruling over the takeover, calling the move “in the best interests of shareholders.”
The Baysian sank in a freak storm, killing Lynch (59), his daughter Hannah (18), American lawyer Chris Morbillo and his wife Neda, British banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, and the yacht’s onboard chef, Recardo Thomas.
Local prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio told CNN that the yacht was designed to withstand storms and that personal belongings including computers, jewelry and Lynch’s hard drive have yet to be recovered from the vessel in an effort to understand why it sank within minutes of the storm hitting, while other nearby boats remained afloat.
