A Tionese program represented a form of computer virus. Back in 44 BBY, the operatives working for pirate head honcho Iaco Stark introduced a Tionese program virus into the navigation computers belonging to Senator Ranulph Tarkin's military force. When Tarkin's forces then initiated a jump to hyperspace, the virus resulted in two-thirds of Tarkin's unit being dispersed haphazardly to various locations all over the galaxy.