Some businesses, including at least one commercial bank, and their customers in Barbados have been affected by a global IT glitch that has caused disruptions worldwide hitting airlines, banks, businesses and even emergency services overseas.

According to the international media, the outages appear to stem at least partly from a software update for Microsoft Windows operating systems issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

CrowdStrike’s CEO said that a fix has been deployed and Microsoft said the “underlying cause” has been fixed, but that the outages are still affecting some services.

911 emergency services are down in several states in the US. Major US airlines, including Delta, United and American Airlines, have had flights grounded, and airlines in Europe and Asia are also seeing disruptions. Banks in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Britain have been impacted, as have health services in Israel, Germany and the UK.

Here in Barbados RBC bank has been affected with their ATM and point of sale machines being put offline.

Barbados’ Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology, Marsha Caddle, stresses that the IT glitch is not the result of a cyberattack but instead a software update.

She notes that the operations of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Grantley Adams International Airport are unaffected so far.

Barbados’ Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology, Marsha Caddle.

An RBC customer complained to Starcom Network News about being unable to access cash through the bank’s ATMs.

An RBC customer.

Barbadian IT consultant and cyber security professional, Steven Williams, says the incident shows how interconnected the world is and how vulnerable countries like Barbados are to global system failures.

Barbadian IT consultant and cyber security professional, Steven Williams.