Representatives of Thales, the European defense technology giant, announced last week at the Eurosatory defense exposition that the company won a contract from the French government to supply 900,000 users of an inter-ministry network with secure Internet and intranet connections, plus related IT support and cybersecurity services. Cybersecurity is now a $670 million business for the company, and while Thales may have had an inside track for the French contract, American firms are increasingly getting the cold shoulder in Europe. Defense News reports that many European firms are seeing increased business largely because of one man—Edward Snowden.

Snowden "has had an impact on the business," Thales Space and Information Systems Security Manager Cyril Autant told Defense News. "Customers saw a danger in US systems, although in general they also say that data security had a high value."