Microsoft and Google disrupt $66 million cybercrime marketplace

Microsoft and Google disrupted RedVDS, an online marketplace that supplied virtual machines for phishing, business email compromise and other cybercrime, TechRadar reported. The marketplace is believed to have contributed to $66 million in losses for US businesses and individuals.

Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit monitored RedVDS through the Global Signal Exchange (GSE), a secure threat-data sharing platform. In January 2026, Microsoft applied to courts in the UK and US to seize RedVDS web domains. Google then identified related accounts on its networks and suspended them. Servers in Germany were impounded, while Europol acted against RedVDS servers in Europe.

RedVDS-provided virtual machines targeted 130,000 organizations between September and December 2025, and 191,000 Microsoft email accounts were compromised during that period, according to the report. Basic scam-ready virtual machines were offered for $24 a month.

The GSE is a UK-based nonprofit co-founded with Google in 2025 to monitor the cybercrime supply chain in real time. Its partners include Meta and Amazon. Microsoft and Google said they plan to continue sharing information through the platform.