Similar to the Hacker Challenge in 2006, it is being run by a U.S. company performing security testing and security metric research. The purpose of this challenge is to evaluate the effectiveness of software protections. The results of this effort will be used to improve protection measures.

There will be three distinct, yet related, phases to this contest. The first phase will be a hacker challenge, for which anyone can register to participate. The second stage of the contest will be a market (based on the Phase 1 challenge). Participation in this second phase will be by invitation only, based on performance in the first phase. The third phase of the contest will be a more challenging hacker challenge; this phase may or may not be invitation-only. There are opportunities to earn money in all three phases of the contest.

All file downloads and uploads necessary for the contest will be possible after the participant has logged in. The market will also be visible, at the appropriate time, after logging in.

You can read more here.

http://www.hackerchallenge.org/

All payments are in U.S. dollars, and will be made anonymously via PayPal with prizes up to $50,000USD for the three phases.

You can register here.

The first round results of the Linux Reverse Engineering Hacker Challenge are out!

http://www.hackerchallenge.org

It was expected that an intermediate hacker with Linux experience should be able to defeat the protection(s) in less than 10 hours. Participants may earn up to $4100 USD.

A total of 93 individuals registered to participate in the first Hacker Challenge. Individuals were compensated for defeating the protection and submitting a report that summarized how the defeat was executed. All individuals who defeated the protection and submitted a sufficient report were compensated with $500, while a partial defeat which was accompanied by a complete report was compensated with $200 (all payments in US dollars, with payments made anonymously via PayPal). Special payments were made for the first three successful defeats, as well as the top-three highest-quality reports

The competition is apparently run by a US based company anonymously and all payouts are made via PayPal.

We are a US company performing security testing and security metric research. This activity is being funded by a component of the US government.

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of software anti-piracy protections. The results of this effort will be used to improve our protection measures.

Perhaps something to do with the RIAA or DMCA as they are evaluating anti-piracy measures.

This is a security testing activity. All software and software anti-piracy measures were developed exclusively for use in this effort. No commercial protections were used in the development of this test.

Do watch out for the next competition from Hacker Challenge!