Becrypt

Becrypt is a British cybersecurity company founded in 2001 and headquartered in London, specialising in data protection and endpoint security solutions for high-assurance government and defence environments. The company holds UK Government clearance to protect information to Top Secret classification, making it one of a small number of commercial firms certified to handle the most sensitive data in the UK Government estate. Its clients include the UK Ministry of Defence, GCHQ, and other central government and intelligence community organisations.

In March 2026, Italian defence group Leonardo S.p.A. announced its agreement to acquire Becrypt, with a close expected in Q2 2026. The acquisition represents a move of a UK-government-cleared crypto and endpoint security supplier into Italian state-backed ownership: the Italian government holds approximately 30 per cent of Leonardo. Becrypt's significance to the UK MoD supply chain means the deal is subject to review under the National Security and Investment Act 2021, which gives UK ministers powers to scrutinise or unwind acquisitions that could harm national security.

Becrypt's Top Secret clearance reflects a decade of investment in hardware-enforced data-at-rest encryption, secure boot, and network access control solutions built to CESG/NCSC specifications. This technical foundation, particularly its hardware security module integration, is the core asset Leonardo is acquiring to expand its UK Government cyber offering. The deal's significance for UK cyber policy lies less in the technology itself and more in the precedent of NATO-ally state ownership of a UK-cleared sovereign security supplier.