1. A computer-performed method for controlling access to a resource in a computer system, the method comprising: receiving a request to access a resource including a first identifier associated with an entity; determining whether or not the first identifier is a member of a canonical namespace containing identifiers used to access resources in the computer system; responsive to determining that the first identifier is a member of the canonical namespace, accessing the resource using the first identifier; determining whether the first identifier has a mapping to the canonical namespace stored in an internal database; responsive to determining that the first identifier is not a member of the canonical namespace and does not have a mapping to the canonical namespace stored in the internal database, automatically generating a second identifier for the entity within the canonical namespace and storing the second identifier in the internal database for further identification of the entity; and accessing the resource using the second identifier.