system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why was the term "virus" chosen to be used in reference to malicious software?

Why is a biological term used in the realm of computers?
gpt
A computer virus isn't just any malicious software. It's a program or a piece of code that when executed, finds other files on your computer and writes itself inside them, so that when they are executed the virus is executed again. This is similar to how a biological virus works - a piece of genetic material that infects a living cell and causes the cell to replicate the virus.

There are other types of malicious software (aka malware) such as worms and trojans, however "viruses" became a catch-all term for malicious software because they were the first.