A sunken superyacht off the coast of Italy may contain classified information on a handful of nations, including the United States, it has been revealed. The doomed yacht, called the Bayesian, was anchored in waters near Sicily when it capsized last month after being hit by a freak “water tornado,” killing seven of the passengers. Among the dead was “British Bill Gates” Mike Lynch, a billionaire who, among other things, “was associated with British, American and other intelligence services through his various companies, including the cyber security company he founded, Darktrace.”
Initially, Italian officials tightened security around the wreck because they were concerned that looters would descend upon the sunken vessel in hopes of stealing jewelry and any other expensive items they might find. Security was ramped up even further when officials learned from survivors that Lynch — who once served as an adviser to British prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May on the issues of science, technology and cyber security — “did not trust cloud services” and preferred, instead, to keep his top-secret files on encrypted hard drives that he stored in water-tight safes within the yacht.
What’s contained in Lynch’s files is anyone’s guess at this point, but there’s enough concern to warrant the tightened security:
The information could be of interest to foreign governments, including Russia and China, prompting prosecutors to request that the yacht be guarded by both above-surface and underwater surveillance.
“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 confirmed to CNN.
Reports say that the Bayesian, which is owned by Mike Lynch’s widow, “is thought to have watertight safes containing two super-encrypted hard drives that hold highly classified information, including passcodes and other sensitive data.” This is according to a source involved in the salvage operation.
While the salvage operation is taking place, so is a criminal investigation into why the unsinkable superyacht went down early on the morning of August 19, as most passengers slept in their cabins. Scrutiny is being placed on the crew, most of whom survived, and particularly on the captain, James Cutfield, who also survived and, under maritime law, is responsible for the safety and security of all those aboard the vessel.
The high-profile nature of Mike Lynch’s passing, along with his business dealings with the international intelligence community, hopefully will warrant continued scrutiny of the salvage operation and the safe retrieval of those encrypted hard drives. Italian officials will oversee the security aspect, which, considering how little Americans trust their federal law enforcement agencies, is probably a good thing.
Now, I’m not saying that the files sitting 164 feet under Sicilian waters contain anything that could be used as an “October surprise” ahead of the presidential election, but what I am saying is that it would be peak 2024 for such a surprise to emerge from the depths of the Mediterranean.
