Bayesian: Security measures on the wreck are increased – “Fears that Leeds hard drives are being targeted by foreign governments”

Italian authorities have confirmed a request for additional security around the sinking of the luxury yacht Bayesian, which sank in August resulting in the deaths of seven people, including British businessman Mike Lynch, after fears were expressed that material in the ship’s watertight safes could be of interest to foreign governments.

Italian prosecutors fear would-be thieves may try to reach the wreck in order to loot expensive jewelry and other valuable items on board, including documented intelligence, according to CNN, citing unnamed sources. Authorities are reportedly concerned that two supercrypted hard drives in the sunken yacht’s watertight safes “could fall into the wrong hands.”

The yacht sank during a violent storm off the coast of Sicily on August 19, killing seven of the 22 people on board. Among the dead were Mike Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter.

Italian authorities confirmed to CNN that the Leeds’ hard drives could be of interest to foreign governments, including Russia and China, and requested that the vessel be closely guarded with surface and underwater surveillance.

“An official request has been granted for additional security for the wreck until it can be recovered,” Francesco Venuto of Sicily’s civil protection agency told CNN. Concerns center on the hard drives that Lynch reportedly had with him. Survivors reportedly told Italian prosecutors that Lynch “didn’t trust cloud services” and kept his data with him. Lynch is believed to have had connections with British, American, and other intelligence agencies and had sold Darktrace,a cyber-intelligence company he founded, to US billionaire Orlando Bravo, co-founder and managing partner of Chicago-based Thoma Bravo, for $5 billion.

According to the Guardian, Lynch’s previous company, Autonomy, which he sold to Hewlett-Packard in 2011, was also linked to UK and US government agencies and reportedly specialized in “advanced computer interception systems”.

The risk that Leeds’ hard drives containing highly secret information, including passwords and other sensitive data, could fall into the hands of foreign agents was raised by an official involved in the rescue plans, who asked not to be named, according to CNN. Divers searched the Bayesian with remote cameras before it was recovered. They are expected to complete their search of the wreck within the next week.

Italian prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into the sinking of the 184-foot-long yacht, which came as Lynch, his family members, his lawyer and his banker were celebrating his acquittal in June on fraud charges related to the 2011 sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard – an $11 billion sale.

Tycoon Mike Lynch

Hewlett-Packard recently said it plans to bring a $4 billion lawsuit against the Lynch estate, saying the move was “in the interests of shareholders” in a 2022 UK civil court ruling on the acquisition.

Local prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio told CNN that no personal items such as computers, jewelry or Lynch’s hard drives have yet been recovered from the yacht, although equipment related to the navigation system was removed to determine why the yacht sank within minutes of the storm’s onset when it was designed to withstand such a situation.

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