Kerberos is a Single-Sign On (SSO) extension used by Apple to simplify the process of acquiring a Kerberos ticket-granting ticket (TGT) from an organizations Active Directory domain. The Kerberos SSO extension proactively acquires a Kerberos TGT upon network state changes to ensure that the user is ready to authenticate when needed. It also helps users manage their Active Directory accounts, allows them to change their Active Directory passwords, and notifies them when a password is close to expiring.

The Kerberos SSO extension is available on macOS and doesnt require that the Mac be bound to Active Directory. Users must authenticate to the Kerberos SSO extension, and they can begin this process in several ways, such as accessing a website that accepts or requires Kerberos authentication.

Kerberos is not malware, and it is not harmful to your Mac. It is a built-in feature of macOS that is used to simplify the authentication process for users in organizations that use Active Directory.