• Using WireShark
• Using Network Analyzers for Debugging
• Analyzing Cookies
• Analyzing Forms

    The goal of most bot programs is to access data that a web user could access with a web browser. The advantage is that a bot is an automated program and can access a large amount of data quickly. Creating bots can be challenging. If the data that is to be accessed is on a single public web page, the task is easy. However, usually a bot must navigate through a series of pages to find the data it needs.

    Why would a bot need to navigate through several pages to access a piece of data? Perhaps the most common reason is that some web sites require a user to log into the web server before they are allowed to get to the data they would like to view. Your bank would surely require you to log into the bank web site, prior to viewing your bank balances. To access such a site, the bot must be able to send the web server the same data in exactly the same format as a regular browser session with a human user.

    These more complex bots can be difficult to debug manually. Fortunately, by using a program called a “Network Analyzer”, manual debugging is not necessary. Network analyzers are also frequently referred to as “Packet Sniffers”.