Hacking for Pay

National Public Radio released an interesting news item today. E-week magazine is sponsoring a contest awarding $50,000 to the first hacker that can break into a bogus e-commerce site to test its security.

Has anyone ever participated in any of these “legal” hacking exploits? Do you think it’s good practice to encourage these kinds of hacking simulations?

I’m curious about whether or not anyone out there is up for giving this a shot?