Provided is a method for protocol parsing for network security. The method may include receiving, by a packet capture system, a plurality of packets, parsing lower layer data from each packet, and communicating a respective payload of each respective packet to at least one first queue. A routing system may route the respective payload of each respective packet to a respective second queue of a plurality of second queues based on a respective protocol of the respective packet. A respective protocol parser node of a parsing system may parse higher layer data from the respective payload of each respective packet from each respective second queue. The packet capture system may communicate the lower layer data for each packet to a third queue, and the parsing system may communicate the higher layer data for each packet to the third queue. A system and computer program product are also disclosed.