[2][1] When it came time for college, Levay decided that he wanted to combine his interests in hardware and music, and to study audio engineering.

He moved to Nashville where he attended Middle Tennessee State University, receiving a degree in music business and communications management.

[1] In 2001, Levay and computer security expert Tom Cross co-founded the company Industrial Memetics, building an early social-networking website and blog, MemeStreams.

He left in 2013 to become Chief Security Officer at Bit9 (later VMware Carbon Black), joining after that company suffered a major data breach.

[5][6] In 2015 he moved on to become the Chief Security Officer at the Council on Foreign Relations, serving there until 2018, after which he formed the NGO-ISAC,[7] an Information Sharing and Analysis Center for Non-governmental Organizations.