It is natural to expect that one needs the original login credentials (Apple ID and password) to access information stored in the cloud. What happens if you don't know the user's Apple ID and password, but have access to their computer that was used to sync with iCloud (or iCloud Drive)? If this is the case, you may attempt connecting to iCloud using a binary authentication token extracted from the user's computer.
The use of a binary authentication token provides the ability to bypass the login and password authentication of Apple iCloud. As an added benefit, using an authentication token bypasses any two-factor authentication specified by the user.
Technically speaking, authentication tokens are small binary files created by iCloud Control Panel to spare the user from entering their login and password every time they sync with the cloud. The token can be extracted from the user's computer if iCloud Control Panel (or...