Abstract: A method of performing a sliding window search includes the steps of: (a) creating an associative database of a plurality of data strings; (b) receiving a first window of a data block; (c) iconizing the first window of the data block to form a first icon; (d) determining if the first icon has a match in the associative database; (e) determining a first byte icon of a first byte of data in the first window; (f) executing an icon shift function to form a shifted first byte icon; (g) exclusive ORing the shifted first byte icon with the first icon to form a seed icon; (h) determining a second icon for a second window using the seed icon and transforming a new byte of data onto the seed icon; and (i) determining if the second icon has a match in the associative database.