A computer system identifies high-value information in data streams. The computer system receives a filter graph definition. The filter graph definition includes a plurality of filter nodes, each filter node including one or more filters that accept or reject packets. Each respective filter is categorized by a number of operations, and the one or more filters are arranged in a general graph. The computer system performs one or more optimization operations, including: determining if a closed circuit exists within the graph, and when the closed circuit exists within the graph, removing the closed circuit; reordering the filters based at least in part on the number of operations; and parallelizing the general graph such that the one or more filters are configured to be executed on one or more processors.