A method and system for handling a malicious intrusion to a machine in a networked group of computers. The malicious intrusion is an unauthorized access to the machine, such as a server in a server farm. When the intrusion is detected, the machine is isolated from the rest of the server farm, and the machine is reprovisioned as a decoy system having access to only data that is ersatz or at least non-sensitive. If the intrusion is determined to be non-malicious, then the machine is functionally reconnected to the server farm, and the machine is reprovisioned to a state held before the reprovisioning of the machine as a decoy machine.