Is paying hackers good for business?

It’s an interesting question, I feel, and one that seems to split both the IT security business and, well, business, asunder. I guess that some clarification is required before going any further, to save myself from needless big stick grief. I am not talking about the kind of penetration testing that allows security consultants to employ talented white hat hackers in an effort to expose holes within a security strategy and implementation. That kind of thing is obviously a given, and many large enterprises might not admit to it in public but it’s pretty common practise.