Taylor Lewallen spent her career fundraising for nonprofits until she joined CrowdStrike in 2021. Then, the fundraiser became the funder.

At CrowdStrike, Lewallen works as a Program Manager for CrowdStrike’s Social Impact programs. Part of that work involves leading CrowdStrike’s corporate giving strategy, where she helps determine which nonprofits to support and how it aligns to a broader vision. 

Lewallen also manages several programs at CrowdStrike, including our volunteer time-off program, matching gift program and signature partnerships with nonprofit organizations, such as the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS).

“My favorite part of this role is working directly with our nonprofit partners. We have so many resources as a corporation and I’m proud that we share those resources with our communities,” said Lewallen. 

Under her stewardship, CrowdStrike has focused its corporate giving strategy on bridging the cybersecurity skills gap. And it’s easy to understand why: Globally, there is an estimated shortage of 4 million cybersecurity professionals, and the demand for skilled employees is expected to continue.

“Our giving is designed to help protect the future of the cybersecurity industry and build the next generation of cybersecurity professionals,” said Lewallen.

Cybersecurity Education Through Gaming: Cyber Threat Defender

CrowdStrike’s support of CIAS directly aligns with our corporate giving strategy. Established in 2001, CIAS is a Texas-based research center focused on cybersecurity education for students ranging from elementary school to college. CIAS conducts research into effective ways to introduce students to cybersecurity principles, then brings that research to life through training, exercises, competitions and educational games. 

As a Titanium Sponsor, CrowdStrike supports CIAS in several ways, including financial donations and volunteerism. Recently, it involved boosting cybersecurity education through the Cyber Threat Defender card game, which Lewallen helped enhance with a CrowdStrike booster pack. 

Created by CIAS in 2016, Cyber Threat Defender is a unique and innovative card game designed to teach the cornerstones of cybersecurity and provide a basic awareness of security issues. Created as a multiplayer, collectible card game, Cyber Threat Defender is designed to be fun and easy for players of all ages, particularly middle school and high school-aged players.

Cyber Threat Defender is a competitive card game similar to Pokémon or Magic the Gathering. To play, players create a network of assets and build defenses to prevent attacks from opponents. With an average game lasting 20 minutes, players get exposed to the complicated relationship between cyberattacks and defensive countermeasures. 

“Cyber Threat Defender gamifies cybersecurity in a way that allows anyone to learn about the complex security issues our customers deal with every day,” said Lewallen.

 

CrowdStrike Booster Pack

Cyber Threat Defender has steadily grown in popularity since its release. To date, more than 160,000 students in 22 countries have played it.

Part of the game’s lasting appeal is how it’s evolved over the years. Just as the cybersecurity industry evolves with new adversaries and technologies, so too has Cyber Threat Defender through the use of booster packs, which expand on the game’s standard pack to give players new strategies and tactics to beat their opponents.

Available today, the CrowdStrike booster pack includes 12 new game cards featuring adversaries such as SCATTERED SPIDER and various CrowdStrike cybersecurity solutions.

 

Figure 1. The new CrowdStrike booster pack for Cyber Threat Defender

“CrowdStrike is great at taking complex threats and illustrating them in a way that is easy for people to understand. This partnership with CIAS allows us to share our industry expertise with students to help foster an interest in cybersecurity,” said Lewallen.

Lewallen serves as the connection between CIAS at CrowdStrike. Since Day One, she worked with CIAS to understand its needs and how CrowdStrike could support the organization. From there, she got the right people on board and coordinated a companywide effort to bring together designers, writers, threat intelligence experts and executives to support the project.

“This effort bridged many teams at CrowdStrike, demonstrating our ‘one team, one fight’ mentality,” said Lewallen. 

Get the Game

There are several ways to support this initiative. CrowdStrikers can take advantage of their volunteer paid-time-off benefit to bring Cyber Threat Defender to a school near them. Employees can visit CrowdStrike’s Social Impact CrowdConnect page to get the game and instructions on how to teach it. 

“We want to encourage all employees to give back in a way that’s meaningful to them. Our volunteer time-off policy gives employees the flexibility to choose how and when they support their communities,” said Lewallen.  

With the support of sponsors like CrowdStrike, Cyber Threat Defender and other card games are available at no cost to K-12 educators in the U.S. Request a free classroom set here.

For everyone else, Cyber Threat Defender and gaming accessories — including the new CrowdStrike booster pack — are available for purchase through the CIAS store.