Can an sd card be infected by a virus?

[AC Question]

Can a sd card be infected by a virus.

Have a Cubot p9 mobile that's around 2 years old it has just become riddled with a virus that keeps draining battery running apps & down loading various crap including strange apps from china

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: Can a sd card be infected by a virus.

Welcome to Android Central! It's possible, but it's more likely that the malware is on the phone's internal storage. Does that behavior persist after a factory reset, keeping the SD card out of the phone?

 

[B. Diddy]

If malware installed itself to the root, then a factory reset may not actually get rid of it as well (which would be another reason why it seems to keep coming back). I believe that would require reinstalling the firmware.

 

[Rainmon]

I've had a similar issue and did 4 factory resets on my Alcatel OneTouch Flash, now it seems to be running well (touch wood) but have removed the SD card. Now I have put the sd card in my computer and reformatted it, so I am contemplating whether I should put it back in or look into rooting the phone. Does anyone know if a virus has attached itself at the root level if rooting will allow you to remove it or what the best solution is to confirm or resolve?