An security module includes a detection module for determining that an
electronic message received for scanning includes a protected component.
The security module also includes a parsing module for parsing the
electronic message to identify potential passwords for the protected
component. The security module further includes an analysis module for
attempting to access the protected component of the electronic message
using the identified potential passwords. A submission module submits
potential passwords to a decomposition module for accessing the protected
component. If the correct password is found, the decomposition module
opens the protected component and/or extracts the contents of the
archive. An analyzer module analyzes or scans the contents of the
protected component.