Various embodiments described and illustrated herein provide one or more of systems, methods, software, and firmware to handle attack generated demand proactively using distributed virtualization. One goal of some such embodiments is to provide a time window of stable operational response within which an intrusion detection system may detect an attack and/or cause a countermeasure against the attacks to be activated. Demand excursions which are not caused by an attack are supported during the variability of demand providing transparent response to legitimate users of the system. These embodiments, and others, are described in greater detail below.