Widespread global tech outage disrupts flights, banks, hospitals and media outlets

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY, ELAINE KURTENBACH and DAVID McHUGH

FRANKFURT, Germany — A global technology outage caused by a faulty software update grounded flights, knocked banks and media outlets offline, and disrupted hospitals, small businesses and other services on Friday, highlighting the fragility of a digitized world dependent on just a handful of providers.

The trouble with the update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and affecting computers running Microsoft Windows was not a hacking incident or cyberattack...