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Looks that way:

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Excerpt:

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For five years, Czech student Marek Strihavka programmed computer viruses as part of the underground group 29A.

A twist of fate, however, has led the former virus writer to take a job stopping digital pests like those he used to create. About a year after leaving 29A, which takes its name from the base-16 representation of 666, the 22-year-old resident of Brno in the Czech Republic became the main developer of Zoner Software's antivirus system.

I am glad that I can use the skills I achieved by studying viruses in practice and real life.

Now Strihavka finds himself under attack. The Czech police have raided his home and confiscated his computer equipment as part of an investigation into the Slammer worm. In addition, some antivirus companies are attacking Zoner for hiring a known virus writer.

In an interview with CNET News.com, the man who used to be "Benny" claims that he never took part in spreading his programs on the Internet and maintains that virus writers contribute to online security.

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See link for the interview.

Antivirus companies frequently say that no virus writer should ever have a job in security. What are your views of this opinion?
From the interview:

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That is funny. Why? Just because a lot of skilled virus writers already have jobs in the antivirus industry. I don't want to cause any problems to my friends, so I won't give concrete examples. But believe me, this is just marketing theater for customers--the truth is a bit different.