Italian divers are reportedly racing to recover Mike Lynch’s hidden hard drives from the wreckage of the Bayesian superyacht before foreign intelligence services can get their hands on them.
Seven people died when the Bayesian, a £30m superyacht owned by the founder of Darktrace, sank last month in just 16 minutes after being hit by a violent gust.
Mr Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter were killed along with Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judith, New York lawyer Chris Morvillo and his partner Neda and chef Recaldo Thomas.
According to Palermo investigators, no personal items have yet been recovered from the shipwreck.
But The Telegraph reported that Italian special forces divers reportedly brought back crucial video equipment that could explain how the Bayesian sank.
Mike Lynch (pictured), who died alongside his daughter when the Bayesian sank last month
Italian divers are reportedly racing to recover Mike Lynch’s hidden hard drives from the wreckage of the superyacht.
According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Lynch kept two encrypted hard drives in a safe because he did not entrust controversial documents to the cloud.
The outlet also reported that its clients included MI5, the US National Security Agency and the Israeli secret service.
Sources close to Lynch’s family have suggested there was no evidence he had access to intelligence material.
Mr Lynch co-founded cybersecurity firm Darktrace, which employed intelligence officers, prompting speculation that the company still had ties to spy agencies.
However, Mr. Lynch had not been involved in the management of the company for several years, The telegraph reported.
Mr Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter lost their lives when the yacht sank in a storm.
Salvage personnel pictured as they prepare to resume inspections of the wreck of the Bayesian yacht on August 23
Autopsies have been carried out on the victims in Sicily in recent days and preliminary results suggest all but one were trapped below deck when they died.
Fifteen of the 22 passengers and crew survived the sinking of the Bayesian last month by boarding an inflatable life raft.
Autopsies carried out on the victims at Palermo’s Policlinico hospital earlier this month revealed they had no water in their lungs, Italian media reported, raising fears they may have been conscious when the yacht sank.
Although their bodies have now returned home, doctors in Palermo are still investigating whether their deaths were caused by drowning or a lack of oxygen in the cabin.
All the victims of the disaster were passengers, except for the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas.