1. An apparatus comprising a plurality of programmable processing units to receive a pre-specified string to generate content addressable memory entries and to receive messages to generate sub-messages, a content addressable memory coupled to each of the plurality of programmable processing units to compare the content addressable memory entries and the sub-messages to generate hit information, and a programmable control unit coupled to each of the programmable processing units and the content addressable memory, wherein the programmable control unit is to determine the presence of the pre-specified string in the message based on the hit information.