Eugene Kaspersky, co-founder and head of anti-virus research at Kaspersky Labs, claims that because Vista hasn"t entered the market with a bang, some customers will start moving towards both the Mac and open-source platforms, making them a more attractive target for malware writers. Kaspersky claims that Mac viruses are no more difficult to repel than Windows attacks, but says "it"s not so easy to find good [anti-virus] experts for non-Windows platforms." On the other hand, "more people are watching open-source code, so they are more quick to find problems. If the people who make the fix are good guys, that"s great; if they are bad guys, that"s a problem." Although Kaspersky agrees Vista is fundamentally more secure than XP, he says not all security vendors have perfected their software for Vista yet. "Is a less protected XP with a ready set of security applications better than a more secure Vista with less developed security applications? Microsoft paid a lot of attention to security [in Vista], but it means less flexibility for security vendors."
Kaspersky also warned that malware writers are increasingly turning their attention to non-PC platforms, including consoles and smartphones. He makes an example out of Sony"s new console, saying that "if there are viruses for the PlayStation 3, if the situation is such that we have to have protection for these devices, we will have products." The Russian also claims that foreign malware experts are growing wise to new developments in the smartphone arena and predicts that "this year they are going to introduce online banking through smartphones and Chinese hackers will turn to smartphone phishing".