Exploiting is ban. If you get banned for doing it and it's proven without a shadow of doubt that you knowingly did it, you deserve all that's coming to you. That said, Bioware have taken to the official Star Wars The Old Republic forums to clarify their actions and what it means for those banned. If anyone is unfamiliar with the Ravager Exploit, it involved bypassing the final boss of The Ravagers. It effectively allowed you to obtain all the loot without having to work for it. Needless to say there were plenty of people who cashed in on the exploit and Bioware eventually stamped it out. 

Those we were caught exploiting have primarily received in game or forum bans, removal of items and gear as well as credits and commendations. Bioware went on to state:

We didn’t take these actions lightly and reviewed every account to determine where we could be lenient. From our end, this was a no win situation. We feel responsible for allowing the exploit to occur and remain in the game for an unreasonable length of time, but we also cannot and will not condone cheating. Thankfully, a large majority of our players didn’t exploit at all, but unfortunately, some of those who did have been with us for a long time, even all the way back to launch. It breaks our hearts to see a few of those loyal players partake in the exploit. Still, it would be unfair to not punish those players, and so we had to take action.

Although Bioware haven't revealed how many were effected by the action, there's no doubt it'll be a significant proportion of players especially once word spread that bypassing the end boss resulted in such easy loot. I'm sure we'll soon here about plenty of players who take to the forums protesting their innocence. We'll keep you posted.