Object Identifier (OID)

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An Object Identifier (OID) is a specific, long-form name for any type of object or entity. In computing, an OID appears as a group of characters that allows a server or end user to retrieve an object without needing to know the physical location of the data.

This approach is useful for automating and streamlining data storage in cloud computing environments. On the Internet, an OID takes the form of a Universal Unique Identifier (UUID), a 128-bit number used to uniquely identify an object or entity. In a database, an OID is a set of integers that uniquely identifies each Row (or record) in a table.

OIDs are typically in a sequence of numbers separated by periods, like “1.23.456.7.89”. Technically, there must be at least two numbers. The first number must be a zero, a one, or a two, and if the first number is zero or one, then the second number must be between zero and thirty-nine, inclusive.

What are common uses of OIDs?

SNMP, X509 Certificates, DHCP, and many other computer communications protocols use OIDs to name objects or entities with persistence for easier retrieval and identification purposes.

What does this mean for an SMB or MSP?

The vast majority of companies don’t need to know what OIDs are or how they work. Even your IT staff only need a basic idea of how OIDs operate in case they wish to troubleshoot data storage in cloud computing (even then, vendors will be better choices for support and troubleshooting). 
Knowing that OIDs are central to so many communications protocols may be helpful, however, it is far more important for companies to get the basic essential cybersecurity in place listed below to protect themselves from compromise or breach. 

CyberHoot’s Minimum Essential Cybersecurity Recommendations

The following recommendations will help you and your business stay secure with the various threats you may face on a day-to-day basis. All of the suggestions listed below can be gained by hiring CyberHoot’s vCISO Program development services.

1. Govern employees with policies and procedures. You need a password policy, an acceptable use policy, an information handling policy, and a written information security program (WISP) at a minimum.
2. Train employees on how to spot and avoid phishing attacks. Adopt a Learning Management system like CyberHoot to teach employees the skills they need to be more confident, productive, and secure.
3. Test employees with Phishing attacks to practice. CyberHoot’s Phish testing allows businesses to test employees with believable phishing attacks and put those that fail into remedial phish training.
4. Deploy critical cybersecurity technology including two-factor authentication on all critical accounts. Enable email SPAM filtering, validate backups, and deploy DNS protection, antivirus, and anti-malware on all your endpoints.
5. In the modern Work-from-Home era, make sure you’re managing personal devices connecting to your network by validating their security (patching, antivirus, DNS protections) or prohibiting their use entirely.
6. If you haven’t had a risk assessment by a 3rd party in the last 2 years, you should have one now. Establishing a risk management framework in your organization is critical to addressing your most egregious risks with your finite time and money.
7. Buy Cyber-Insurance to protect you in a catastrophic failure situation. Cyber-Insurance is no different than Car, Fire, Flood, or Life insurance. It’s there when you need it most.

Each of these recommendations, except cyber-insurance, is built into CyberHoot’s product and virtual Chief Information Security Officer services. With CyberHoot you can govern, train, assess, and test your employees. Visit CyberHoot.com and sign up for our services today. At the very least continue to learn by enrolling in our monthly Cybersecurity newsletters to stay on top of current cybersecurity updates.

To learn more about how Object Identifiers are used, watch this short 2-minute video:

Sources: 

TechTarget

IBM

LDAP

Additional Reading:

Set Up OIDs

Related Terms:

Service Set Identifier (SSID)

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