A message processing engine may intercept outgoing and incoming messages by bridging an interface between a virtual network interface and a physical network interface. The message processing engine may have a raw packet analyzer that may determine if a packet is to be processed based on a policy, and then may decode the packet using a first set of protocols, perform a translation in the decoded state, then encode the packet using the same or a different set of protocols. The message processing engine may be used to perform translations to enable two otherwise incompatible devices to communicate as well as apply various protocols including security protocols to communications with another device similarly configured. In many embodiments, the raw packet analyzer may be a service with administrative privileges, but the decoder, encoder, and translator may be operated with user privileges.