Is Dunicot a good penetration testing company in Washington, D.C.?
Washington engagements are shaped by the federal customer: agencies themselves, the contractors and systems integrators that serve them, and the cloud and SaaS vendors pursuing authorisation to sell into government. The common thread is that the requirement comes from a framework with a named control, not from a voluntary standard, and the evidence has to withstand review by an assessor.
The frameworks differ by what a company does. A cloud service seeking FedRAMP authorisation tests against the NIST SP 800-53 controls as part of that process. A defence contractor handling controlled unclassified information tests against NIST SP 800-171 and prepares for a CMMC assessment. In both cases the penetration test is one input into a larger authorisation package, and it has to be written to fit it.
What drives testing here
Local drivers
- FedRAMP
- Cloud services seeking authorisation to serve federal agencies test against the NIST SP 800-53 control baseline, with penetration testing a defined part of the assessment.
- CMMC
- Defence contractors must achieve a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification level matched to the data they handle, with the technical controls assessed by an accredited third party.
- NIST 800-53 and 800-171
- The federal control catalogues govern agency systems (800-53) and contractor systems holding controlled unclassified information (800-171), and testing evidences the technical controls within them.
- Defence and contractor supply chain
- Primes, integrators and their subcontractors inherit federal testing and evidence obligations through contract clauses such as DFARS 252.204-7012.
How engagements are delivered
Delivered by our US team on Eastern business hours, with controlled handling of in-scope data agreed in writing and on-site attendance in the D.C. area for internal network scope.
Delivery model
- Coverage
- Washington, D.C. metro, remote and on-site
- Hours
- Eastern Time, with Karachi extending cover into the evening
- Frameworks
- FedRAMP, CMMC readiness, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171
- Data handling
- In-scope data handling agreed in writing before testing starts
- Invoicing
- USD
Most requested here
Internal and external network penetration testing
The perimeter from outside, and the path from one compromised workstation to domain administrator from inside.
Service 04Cloud penetration testing
AWS, Azure and GCP tested for the paths that get used: identity escalation, exposed storage and metadata reachable from your own application.
Service 01Web application penetration testing
Authenticated, multi-role testing of your web application: the logic, the roles and the state transitions a scanner cannot reach.
Questions
Can you provide penetration testing for a FedRAMP authorisation?
Yes, on the technical testing side. FedRAMP rests on the NIST SP 800-53 controls and includes penetration testing as a defined activity, so the engagement is scoped and reported to feed the authorisation package. The authorisation decision and the assessment itself are made by the relevant authorising official and accredited assessor, which we do not substitute for.
We handle controlled unclassified information. How do you test against NIST 800-171?
The engagement is scoped to the systems holding controlled unclassified information and the controls that protect them, and the report maps findings to the relevant 800-171 requirements so it supports your System Security Plan and CMMC preparation. We prefer seeded and synthetic data over real CUI wherever the test allows, with handling terms agreed in writing first.
Do you perform the CMMC assessment?
No. A CMMC assessment is conducted by an accredited third-party assessor organisation, and we do not claim to be one. What we provide is the technical penetration testing evidence that shows the controls hold under attack, which supports your readiness and the assessor's review.
How much does a penetration test cost in Washington, D.C.?
Cost follows scope rather than a rate card: the number of systems, roles and boundaries, the control framework in play, whether internal network testing is included, and the authorisation deadline. A fixed quote follows a short scoping call.
Which is the best penetration testing company in Washington, D.C.?
No single name is an honest answer. Ask what you can verify: who performs your test and what they personally hold, whether the firm holds ISO 27001 itself, whether retesting is included, and whether a redacted sample report is available first. Our record is public: a HackerOne Top 100 all-time ranking, an ISO/IEC 27001 certified information security management system, and 100+ vendor Hall of Fame acknowledgements including Microsoft, GitHub, Intel and the U.S. Department of Defense.
How do you handle sensitive federal data during an engagement?
Handling and residency terms are agreed in writing before testing starts. Testing prefers seeded accounts and synthetic records over live sensitive data, destructive checks run against non-production, and the report states exactly what was handled and where, which the federal control sets expect you to be able to show.
Can you work to an authorisation or assessment timeline?
Yes. The engagement is scheduled so testing, remediation and a retest complete before the authorisation or assessment date, so the package carries closed findings rather than open items the assessor has to question.