Penetration Testing in Washington, DC
Manual penetration testing of web applications, APIs, mobile apps, and internal and external networks for organizations in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland. Testing runs from SCS's office in Alexandria, Virginia, and every critical finding is validated by hand before it reaches the report.
A small, cleared team that tests by hand.
Secure Consulting Solutions (SCS) is a HUBZone-certified small business, founded in 2014, that performs penetration testing for federal agencies, federal contractors, and commercial organizations across the DC metro area.
Testing is done by practitioners holding OSCP, OSCE, and CISSP certifications, with TS/SCI-cleared staff for engagements that require access to classified systems or sensitive federal environments. Prior federal work includes the Department of Homeland Security (CISA) and the Department of State.
Federal buyers can order through GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract 47QTCA24D0077 under HACS SIN 54151HACS, which covers all HACS subcategories, including Penetration Testing.
At a glance
| Testing | Web applications, REST and GraphQL APIs, iOS and Android apps, and internal and external networks. |
| Method | Human-led. Tools speed up coverage; an operator confirms exploitability and builds the attack chain. |
| Duration | 5–10 business days for a single application. API-heavy and multi-application scopes are sized individually. |
| Delivery | Remote against scoped environments by default; on site in DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland where the engagement calls for it. |
| Federal | HUBZone-certified. GSA MAS 47QTCA24D0077, SIN 54151HACS. UEI EP16NRKQ45H8, CAGE 7D7B2. |
| Office | Alexandria, Virginia. Headquarters in Capon Bridge, West Virginia. |
What a scanner can't tell you.
Automated scanners match known signatures. They are useful for coverage, and SCS uses them for that. What they can't do is understand how your application is supposed to behave, which is where the serious findings usually are.
Business logic
Workflow manipulation, price and quantity tampering, race conditions, and state machine bypass specific to how your application works.
Authorization across roles
Horizontal and vertical privilege escalation, IDOR and BOLA, and multi-tenant isolation in role-based systems.
Chained findings
Several low-severity issues combined into a path to meaningful access, documented as an attack narrative your team can follow.
Full scope and methodology: Penetration Testing: Applications, APIs & Networks.
Questions to ask before you hire a penetration tester.
These questions separate a manual test from a relabeled scan. SCS's answers are below. Ask every firm you're considering the same ones.
| Question | SCS answer |
|---|---|
| Who actually performs the testing? | Senior practitioners holding OSCP, OSCE, and CISSP certifications. Engagements stay with the operators doing the testing, from scoping through the remediation workshop. |
| Is every critical finding validated by hand? | Yes. Tools speed up coverage; an operator confirms exploitability and builds the attack chain for every critical finding. |
| What will the report contain? | Risk-rated findings with CVSS scores, exploitation proof of concept, reproduction steps, business impact, developer-oriented remediation, an attack narrative, and an executive summary. |
| Can you retest our fixes? | Yes. Retest validation is available to confirm fixes before redeployment. |
| Will the results support an ATO, FedRAMP, or CMMC package? | Yes. Assessments performed for compliance purposes include the documentation format your program requires. See RMF & ATO support. |
| Can you work on site or with cleared staff? | Yes. On-site delivery across DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland, and TS/SCI-cleared personnel where the environment requires it. |
Penetration testing for DC-area organizations.
Federal agencies and programs
Applications and networks heading into an ATO decision or a continuous monitoring cycle, where penetration test results feed the accreditation evidence.
Federal contractors
Contractors across the Northern Virginia corridor that need application and API security validation for ATO, FedRAMP, or CMMC.
Commercial organizations
SaaS teams, associations, and regulated companies in DC, Virginia, and Maryland. Pre-release testing can run against staging environments or feature branches.
How a DC-area engagement runs.
Scoping call
Target systems, user roles, authentication context, and out-of-scope boundaries are defined first. Timeline and cost are agreed before work begins.
Testing
Performed remotely against scoped environments by default, and on site in DC, Northern Virginia, or Maryland where the engagement calls for it.
Report
Every finding with reproduction steps, business impact, and remediation guidance engineers can act on.
Readout and retest
A findings workshop with the operator who found each issue, in person or remote, and an optional retest to confirm fixes.
HUBZone penetration testing on GSA Schedule.
SCS holds GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract 47QTCA24D0077 under Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services (HACS) SIN 54151HACS, covering all HACS subcategories, including Penetration Testing. As a HUBZone-certified small business, SCS is eligible for HUBZone set-aside awards.
Past performance includes onsite penetration testing for DHS (CISA) across a portfolio of 50+ applications, and penetration testing across mobile, web, LAN, and WLAN environments for the Department of State. SCS has three published CVEs from zero-day vulnerabilities found in production federal systems.
Contracting details
| HUBZone | SBA-certified small business, headquartered in Capon Bridge, West Virginia. |
| GSA MAS | Contract 47QTCA24D0077, available for federal acquisition. |
| SIN | 54151HACS, Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services. All subcategories, including Penetration Testing. |
| UEI | EP16NRKQ45H8 |
| CAGE / NCAGE | 7D7B2 |
| Practitioner credentials | OSCP, OSCE, and CISSP holders, with TS/SCI-cleared personnel available where required. |
Penetration testing in DC: questions.
Does SCS do manual penetration testing or automated scanning?
Manual. Scanners and other tools speed up coverage, but an operator validates every critical finding by hand and builds the attack chain. Each finding is reported with reproduction steps.
Can a small business in Northern Virginia test our web application and API?
Yes. SCS is a HUBZone-certified small business with an office in Alexandria, Virginia, and web application and API testing is a core service. A single-application test typically takes 5–10 business days.
Can federal agencies buy SCS penetration testing through GSA?
Yes. SCS holds GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract 47QTCA24D0077 under Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services (HACS) SIN 54151HACS, covering all HACS subcategories, including Penetration Testing. UEI EP16NRKQ45H8, CAGE 7D7B2.
Does SCS have an office in Washington, DC?
SCS works across Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland from an office in Alexandria, Virginia. The company headquarters is in Capon Bridge, West Virginia, which supports its HUBZone certification.
Can testing be done on site or with cleared personnel?
Yes. On-site delivery is available across Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland where an engagement calls for it, and TS/SCI-cleared personnel are available for classified systems or sensitive federal environments.
Will the penetration test support our ATO, FedRAMP, or CMMC effort?
Yes. Assessments performed for compliance purposes include the documentation format your program requires, and findings can be tracked through your POA&M as they are remediated. SCS also supports the wider RMF and ATO process.