I’m a Better Man for the Sins I’ve Seen

This one’s been bugging me for a few days. A programmer responsible for one of the world’s more destructive computer viruses has been given a chance to ‘rehabilitate’ himself by getting a job with a big anti-virus software company.
Presumably, the company had one eye on the benefits of hiring someone ‘in the know’ to help strengthen their defences, and another on the publicity the hiring would generate.
There’s a wider issue here – are the people who commit the crimes the best people to be defending against them? It could be said of any protective organization – police, military, bouncers – that you have to think like a crook to catch a crook. It’s important for someone to at least consider the mechanics of commiting a crime in order to build appropriate defenses against that behaviour.
Does it necessarily follow that someone who actually carries out criminal activities is better qualified to defend against them, than someone who has had to consider multiple opportunities and threats for criminal gain and has the self-control and integrity not to pursue them?
I don’t buy it. It doesn’t follow that just because someone’s sinned more that they’ll make a better saint.
Remember that, come election day. See the following post.