I thought that even bogus copies of Windows got security updates. Or did something change?

First of all: Whatever you've heard, don't panic. Most Windows Secrets readers don't have PCs infected with Conficker. The SRI analysis estimates that 54% of the affected machines are in China, Russia, India, Brazil, and Argentina, where many people use unauthorized Windows knockoffs. (Microsoft doesn't provide all its patches to unlicensed copies of Windows, leaving the vulnerable machines free to attack us — a self-defeating policy recently described by security expert Bruce Schneier.)