How is a computer virus like a human virus?

Computer Viruses are called "viruses" after the biological type of virus because of a few similarities:

Computer viruses

• are self-spreading and reproductive
• spread to other computers (through internet, email, CDs, usb keys)
• damage the host computer and
• can be prevented by "vaccination" or telling anti-virus software to block all flagged software

However it is vital to realize that computer 'viruses' are malicious scripts invented by people, while biological viruses are proteinaceous particles which are often not created by people.