British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's sunken yacht off the coast of Sicily raises security concerns regarding sensitive data

Mike Lynch

The wreckage of a $40-million superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily in August, claiming the lives of seven people including British tech mogul Mike Lynch, is now the focus of an international security concern. Specialist divers, who are surveying the wreckage, have called for heightened security over fears that sensitive data onboard could attract the interest of foreign governments, CNN reported citing multiple sources.

The 56-meter (184-foot) yacht, Bayesian, sank during a violent storm, and Italian prosecutors have since launched a criminal investigation into multiple counts of manslaughter and negligent shipwreck. Sources familiar with the investigation revealed to CNN that the vessel may contain highly sensitive data linked to Western intelligence services.

Mike Lynch, the yacht’s owner, had deep connections to British, American, and other intelligence agencies through his companies, including the cybersecurity firm Darktrace, CNN reported. According to CNN, Darktrace, which was sold to private equity firm Thoma Bravo in April, had positioned Lynch as a central figure in the tech and security space. Additionally, Lynch had served as an advisor to former British Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May on matters of science, technology, and cybersecurity, CNN reported.

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Now lying at a depth of around 50 meters (164 feet) on the seabed, the sunken yacht is believed to hold two watertight safes containing super-encrypted hard drives, which could house classified data, including passcodes and other sensitive information, CNN reported, citing an official.

Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the Bayesian have requested increased security to guard the vessel, citing concerns that encrypted data stored in the yacht’s safes could be of interest to foreign governments, including Russia and China, multiple sources told CNN. “A formal request has been accepted and implemented for additional security of the wreckage until it can be raised,” an official with the Sicilian civil protection authority who is assisting with the criminal investigation confirmed to CNN.

Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, American lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda, British banker Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, and the yacht’s chef Recaldo Thomas were among the seven people who lost their lives when the yacht sank. Preliminary autopsy reports suggest that the Bloomer and Morvillo couples died from suffocation, or “dry drowning,” after an air bubble in their sleeping cabin ran out of oxygen, CNN reported. The autopsy results for Lynch and his daughter remain inconclusive, while the chef was found to have died by drowning.

Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 survivors, along with the yacht’s captain, James Cutfield. Prosecutors have placed Cutfield, along with a deckhand and the yacht’s engine room manager, under investigation for multiple manslaughter charges and causing a negligent shipwreck. According to CNN, survivors have testified that Lynch “did not trust cloud services” and always kept sensitive data on secure drives locked in a compartment onboard the yacht.