Object Identifier

Full Title

Object Identifiers (OIDs) are an identifier mechanism standardized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for naming any object, concept, or "thing" with a globally unambiguous persistent name.

Context

As defined in the ITU X.690 standard, the OID is primarily used in X.509 Certificates.

Problems

The OID as used in X.509 does not really apply to objects, per se, but mostly to attributes of objects. So the name is misleading to those not familiar with its usage.

Solution

The preferred term for most uses in the Document Object Identifier as defined in ISO and IETF.