What is MITM and how is it used in web scraping?

MITM proxy is a proxy server that sits between the client and the server and intercepts or modifies the traffic.

When it comes to web scraping MITM software can be used to inspect web traffic of web browsers and desktop or mobile applications. This information can be used to develop web scrapers that scrape hidden web APIs.

Most commonly MITM software is used in scraping APIs of mobile applications like iOS apps or Android apps. Using MITM public API endpoints can be reverse-engineered and called from web scrapers.

Here are some popular MITM programs used in web scraping:

• httptoolkit is known for ease of setup allowing to inspect traffic in single click.
• mitmproxy is powered by Python and is easily scriptable and extendible.
• burpsuite popular with web security professionals.
• wireshark powerful low-level features like byte-level packet editing.