'Perl has bindings into OS calls that bypass OS security'
That sentence makes no sense at all. The 'bindings' Perl has to 'OS call's (read: system calls) are subject to all the normal security restrictions the OS imposes. Regardless of whether you program in Shell, Perl, Java, C or whatever (well, perhaps not Logo), you will be able to access these system calls, subject to the OS's restrictions. So it all comes down to the question of "is your OS secure" and has nothing at all to do with the programming language chosen.