What is the best windows tool to capture HTTP traffic? [closed]

When you want to capture browser traffic or general windows HTTP traffic what tool do you use?


Fiddler, hands down! http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/


Wireshark. Gets HTTP and anything else you want to look at (DNS, usually).


General HTTP traffic:

Fiddler (free)

Internet Explorer and Firefox traffic:

HttpWatch (crippleware & pay)


Recommend Fiddler and Fiddler2 [Mark. Rasmussen above], and another GUI http(s) capture that runs on MS Windows and 'other' systems.

WebScarab

Looks to have the same feature/functionality as Fiddler2, with the addition that it can run on non MS platforms (could be useful for some.)

The Sales Pitch?

WebScarab is a framework for analysing applications that communicate using the HTTP and HTTPS protocols. WebScarab has several modes of operation, implemented by a number of plugins. In its most common usage, WebScarab operates as an intercepting proxy, allowing the operator to review and modify requests created by the browser before they are sent to the server, and to review and modify responses returned from the server before they are received by the browser. WebScarab is able to intercept both HTTP and HTTPS communication. The operator can also review the conversations (requests and responses) that have passed through WebScarab

Some of the basic functionality of value to web developers, security reviews, in WebScarab include: (from their website)

  • Fragments - extracts Scripts and HTML comments from HTML pages as they are seen via the proxy, or other plugins

  • Proxy - observes traffic between the browser and the web server. The WebScarab proxy is able to observe both HTTP and encrypted HTTPS traffic, by negotiating an SSL connection between WebScarab and the browser instead of simply connecting the browser to the server and allowing an encrypted stream to pass through it. Various proxy plugins have also been developed to allow the operator to control the requests and responses that pass through the proxy.

  • Manual intercept - allows the user to modify HTTP and HTTPS requests and responses on the fly, before they reach the server or browser.

  • Beanshell - allows for the execution of arbitrarily complex operations on requests and responses. Anything that can be expressed in Java can be executed.

  • Reveal hidden fields - sometimes it is easier to modify a hidden field in the page itself, rather than intercepting the request after it has been sent. This plugin simply changes all hidden fields found in HTML pages to text fields, making them visible, and editable. Bandwidth simulator - allows the user to emulate a slower network, in order to observe how their website would perform when accessed over, say, a modem.

OWASP, the developers of WebScarab also have a number of other Open Source Projects relevant to reviewing website performance, functionality, security et. al.