A computer virus was an unauthorized program that was meant to interfere with the operation of a computer. Some viruses were specifically designed to derive information from a computer's files. One such virus was programmed with an artificial intelligence that could customize itself based on the target, functioning in an interactive capacity and prompting the target whenever necessary in its quest for data.
At Ranulph Tarkin's suggestion, the Outland Regions Security Force once secreted a virus in the hyperdrive motivators of cargo containers that the pirate Q'anah planned to steal. When Q'anah's men slaved the containers to their frigate, the virus wormed its way into the starship's navigation computer, overrode the requested jump coordinates and delivered it to a destination where the Security Force were lying in wait.