You can get MitM on a smaller scale by simply spoofing WiFi SSIDs.
It used to be that spoofed WiFi and SSL-strip (a program that terminates all HTTPS connections and forwards them as HTTP) would work pretty well for that.
These days HSTS should stop most of that.
HSTS has been adopted by the big ones, (e.g. gmail, paypal, lastpass). I'd say these are also the ones where it might work out to drop a pineapple in some NYC coffeeshops.
It isn't widely deployed though, so it'll still do some damage.
I guess criminals don't wanna do the sleuthing to figure out where they found creds.
I didn't think SSL-strip could work as described (unless you trusted the cert chain), so I did a little reading.
It seems like it works by intercepting traffic and downgrading the attacked machine's connections to http. So, your text is correct; it is terminating the https connection "the other way 'round" from the way I first read your text. It's https from the MITM machine to the "real" server, but http from the browser to the MITM machine, rather than the MITM machine being able to terminate the https session from the browser (without a cert error).
Sharing in case that helps someone else not have to google for "hey, I don't think that will work the way it's described".
It used to be that spoofed WiFi and SSL-strip (a program that terminates all HTTPS connections and forwards them as HTTP) would work pretty well for that. These days HSTS should stop most of that.
HSTS has been adopted by the big ones, (e.g. gmail, paypal, lastpass). I'd say these are also the ones where it might work out to drop a pineapple in some NYC coffeeshops. It isn't widely deployed though, so it'll still do some damage. I guess criminals don't wanna do the sleuthing to figure out where they found creds.