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A Virus commonly inserts itself into other program files, in the same manner that a virus in nature takes over the working of normal cells.
When the infected programme runs, the virus code gets a chance to inspect its' environment and look for and infect new carriers in the form of other programme files.

If the user transmits an infected file to another user, or if infected storage media - discs or tapes - move from one computer to another, the virus may spread rapidly.

Until recently, one could say that data files, such as word processor documents, were inherently unable to engage in viral mischief but macro capabilities in software suites like Microsoft Office have forever blurred this distinction.

Protection against viral attack depends on recognising attempts to alter existing programme files, or detecting such changes by comparison with a trusted database.

Document based virus attacks can be blocked by disabling active-content facilities, such as Word Macros, or live HTML page messages, which bear potentially malicious active-X controls.