

I think what he means is that if your backup is triggered from your main server and your main server is compromised the backups can also be attacked immediately. If the backup is requested from the backup machine you will at least have the time between the attack and the next backup to prevent the attack from reaching your backup machines.
It made me think of indirect games like Black & White, Dungeon Keeper, The Settlers or The Sims. You can give orders but you cannot directly control your characters / units. If you limit the amount of orders, add a delay / the possibility for an interception or introduce areas where your orders can’t reach your hero it could do the trick.