1. A method for responding to a threat in a networked computing environment, the method comprising the computer-implemented processes of: establishing a set of associations to a virtual machine (VM) instance, each association of the set of associations indicating a relationship between the VM instance and a related VM instance; assigning a strength attribute to each association of the set of associations; performing, in response to a detection of a threat, a first preventative measure on a first related VM instance, a strength of the first preventative measure being based on the strength attribute that corresponds to the association between the VM instance and the first related VM instance; and performing, in response to the detection of the threat, a second preventative measure on a second related VM instance, a strength of the second preventative measure being based on the strength attribute that corresponds to the association between the VM instance and the second related VM instance.