Re: Not that it stopped the BBC
If you'd read past the headline ,you'd have found that the first paragraph says "Smartphones running Google's Android software have been hijacked by an illegal botnet, according to a Microsoft researcher."
So, the article is saying that a Microsoft researcher has said there is an Android botnet. That much is actually true. A Microsoft researcher HAS stated there is Android based botnet.
I would personally be surprised if there wasn't. Think about it. While Google seems to do a good job of deleting malware from the official Google Play market, a lot of Android handsets don't have access to that store, and where they do have an app store, the people running it may not be as careful to check for malware as Google or Apple.
Look at the advantages. Most phones are connected to the network for most of the day. Also, Anti Malware software is relatively rare (compared to PCs, where most people seem to have some sort of anti malware system). Even where people have such software, a lot of apps on mobiles require some sort of network access, so people won't question when an app asks for network access.
I am not saying that Android botnets exist. I don't know if they do. I am saying they are likely to appear, if they haven't already. I am also saying that these botnets probably won't be limited to one Mobile OS. Even with Apple's checking, we've had the odd malware appear on the iOS App Store, and there are probably vulnerabilities within the OS that enable installation of malware.