Best way to protect credit. Fraud alert? Lock? Other?

[Paul Witte]

I'm a new investor, currently setting up my first deal.  I appreciate all of you who donate so much of your time and expertise to help people like me.  Ok, on to the question:

Thankfully I've never had my identity stolen, but it seems to be very common and a huge headache--especially if you depend on your credit integrity frequently to fund deals!  I had a lock on my credit file in the past but found it to be very difficult to manage.  I know there are a number of other options out there, but curious about your practices?  What is the best way to balance accessibility of your credit with protection?  They seem to stand in opposition to one another.  Better protection is a bigger headache and slows processing down.  No protection makes for easy access, but having your identity stolen and credit compromised seems like even more trouble.  What is your practice?