1. A method for communicating a high-priority signal across a network ahead of a lower-priority signal, the method comprising the steps of: assigning a priority to each signal entering the network; analyzing each signal to determine the priority of each signal; identifying a harmful signal associated with any of the signals entering the network as each signal travels toward its desired destination; generating a high-priority signal in response to the identification of said harmful signal; identifying and selecting at least one service differentiation technique for the network; defining a plurality of electronic communication paths, each path capable of carrying a plurality of signals, wherein the step of defining the plurality of paths identifies at least one optimal communication path and at least one suboptimal communication path corresponding with the selected service differentiation technique; establishing a target reaction window, wherein the target reaction window defines a desired time difference between the at least one optimal communication path and the at least one suboptimal communication path; and delivering, within the target reaction window, the high-priority signal along the optimal communication path to the desired destination prior to delivering any of the lower-priority signals along said at least one suboptimal communication path to the desired destination to enable deployment of the selected defensive technique, wherein the step of identifying and selecting at least one service differentiation technique for the network includes selecting a defensive technique for exploiting the target reaction window.