Would anyone know more about the DEA "process the intercepts by computer" in the excerpt below from today's Wash Post? Any connection to Peter Neuman's remarks at the CRISIS press conference about LEA training and technology as alternatives to breaking strong crypto? This new funding has been a factor in making possible increased use of electronic surveillance. Federal wiretaps cost more than $70,000 a month to operate and generate hundreds of hours of labor for monitors, transcribers, surveillance teams and investigators. Larger budgets mean cost is less of an obstacle. Building for the future, the DEA is carrying out a $33 million program to replace single-line wiretapping gear with new equipment that can monitor 40 lines simultaneously and process the intercepts by computer. The FBI is plowing millions into developing new intercept techniques for digital lines and expanding its cadre of agents who use the bureau's high tech surveillance gear. "I don't think J. Edgar Hoover would contemplate what we can do today in terms of technology," Reno testified during a Senate hearing in May. The total number of federal wiretaps is just one measure of the rise in federal surveillance. The build-up also is evident in the increased use of electronic devices that record the numbers dialed by a target telephone, and the origin of calls to it. These devices allow agents to identify a person's associates. Beginning in 1993, Justice agencies began using the court-authorized monitors more often and leaving them installed for longer periods of time, according to a Justice Department report.