The U.K. government has taken its fight against online viruses to the front lines with a new Web site, called ITsafe, designed to send rapid security alerts to home and small business computer users. The free service will be run by the National Infrastructure Security Coordination Centre (NISCC). Along with alerts, it also offers advice on protecting personal data both on home and work computers, the Home Office announced Wednesday. “ITsafe is a government service, launched on 23 February 2005, to provide both home users and small businesses with proven, plain English advice to help protect computers, mobile phones and other devices from malicious attack,” a note on the Website said.The government will use the system to issue official alerts if the NISCC de-termines a particular virus, or other security breach, poses a serious enough threat to the public. Based on past experience, the Home Office estimates about six to 10 security alerts will be issued each year. The U.K. government estimates that more than half of all U.K. households have a home computer with about 13 million of those PCs having Internet access in 2004. Alerts will only be issued if the NISCC feels there is something users can do to protect themselves from a particular threat, such as updating software to close loopholes or downloading security patches from an antivirus vendor, the Home Office said. The ITsafe site will not supply patches or software. ITsafe will send alerts by e-mail as well as by text messages over mobile de-vices to users who signed up for the service. By IDG News Service Technology Industry