Lynch, who had connections with various intelligence services through his companies—including the cybersecurity firm Darktrace, which was recently sold to a private equity firm—had previously advised British prime ministers on technology and cybersecurity matters.

Poppy Gustafsson helped to set up the Cambridge-based company in 2013 alongside Autonomy founder Mike Lynch. Mr Lynch, and his daughter Hannah, were among seven people to die after the Bayesian superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily last month.

Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the $40 million superyacht that sank off Sicily in August, killing eight people including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, have asked for heightened security to guard the vessel,

Two watertight safes onboard the yacht may have super-encrypted hard drives that contain classified information like passcodes, sources told CNN.