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Linux is a lot more secure than most OS's as it doesn't automatically answer unsolicited connections (like answering the telephone). Any hacker must first know what brand of Linux you are using, and there's so many.

Not overly true these days. We're a very long way away from Windows 95/Windows NT and Winnuke and similar tools. Everything comes from the base codeset; whether it's the kernel or the software on the system, it's all pulled from a shared public git or similar repository. Sure each "brand" might compile it themselves; and some will throw in an extra few flags/requirements on the kernel and various applications that others don't. But the core code to basically everything is the same. The value that companies like Red Hat etc provide is some tweaks which allow for more enterprise based management and licensing vs outright security.

As an example; pretty much every Linux runs OpenSSH of some description. It doesn't matter what brand of Linux you're running. If you allow that port to be accessible to the public unrestricted, and it has a vulnerability.. then you're done. The key is to stop the remote connection proceeding from bad actors to the system to begin with and keep your systems patched. A 5 year old unpatched Linux system is as insecure as anything else.

If you're running software, and there's a security defect for it, then you're as vulnerable as anything else. Linux isn't inherently more secure than Windows these days, at least for remote connections. If you have physical access to any system, you have no real security.