The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday, March 25, edition that big tech is facing its biggest challenge in decades as antitrust regulators on both sides of the Atlantic crack down on alleged anticompetitive practices that could result in breakup orders to Apple and Alphabet's Google, a first for the industry. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that watchdogs around the world could be inspired to pile on, as evidenced in the growing number of antitrust probes in various countries following the opening of EU and U.S. cases. Google has said it disagreed with the EU's accusations while Apple said the U.S. lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law. Regulators now allege companies such as Apple and Google have built impenetrable ecosystems around their products, making it difficult for customers to switch to rival services, which led to the coining of the term walled gardens. The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday warned Apple, a $2.7-trillion company, that a breakup order is not excluded as a remedy to restore competition after it joined with 15 states to sue the iPhone maker for monopolizing the smart phone market. Even so, it will likely take years to decide the case, which Apple has vowed to fight.