I don't consider it normal behavior. It's obsessive in its very nature. But I understand that systems cracking and malware writing are pernicious, antisocial behavior, and should be addressed with heads on pikes outside the city wall.
You say it's antisocial behaviour like they do that just for the sake of it, when there is money to be made. Like sending spam, etc. You want a botnet? Then compromise stuff, and then use the botnet for your benefit. It's not antisocial in any way.
Like making money is a justification. So now we're up to their head and their entire family's head on a pike.
Taking over something and operating it without permission is highly congruent with naval piracy. So perhaps hung from the yardarm is better. At any rate, something gruesome, public and nasty needs to happen to them.
Yes, I think the basic ... drive to do this is just latent in people, and they initially did it just for the heck of it. There was no money in it to start with.
How this could be considered anything other than deeply antisocial is beyond me.
The update treadmill is normal, in the classic sense of the word.