Methods and embodiments of a high-performance parallel multi-literal matching algorithm called NeoHarry. A chunk of data comprising a character string comprising n bytes is sampled for a byte stream, and data in the sampled chunk are pre-shifted to create shifted copies of data at multiple sampled locations. A mask table is generated having column vectors containing match indicia identifying potential character matches. A look up of the mask table at multiple sampled locations using the pre-shifted data is performed for a target literal character pattern. The mask table lookup results are combined to generate match candidates and exact match verification is performed to identify any generated match candidates that match the target literal character pattern. NeoHarry uses a column-vector-based shift-or model and implements a cross-domain shift algorithm under which character patterns spanning two domains are identified.