We got hacked (and I could use a little advice)

We got hacked Sunday morning.  Malicious code was added to our index files, Java-scripts were replaced and file permissions were changed.  I noticed it almost right away and was able to fix it quickly.  But I had to delete all my WordPress plug-ins and I still haven’t finished reinstalling or reconfiguring some of them.  So some things may look different for awhile.

I think they got in via FTP and I’ve taken steps to block off that route.  But I would also like to do a complete reinstall of WordPress in case I have a security hole.  It looks like it’s an easy process but I’ve never done it before and I’m very afraid of somehow losing all my content.  I have backups but I also don’t have any spare time right now for fixing mistakes, especially big ones.

I’d really appreciate any advice you can give me about doing a reinstall or making MachinistBlog more secure.  You can leave a comment or email me at rr(at)machinistblog(dot)com.

One good thing did come from this.  I learned that I have a couple of plug-ins that are slowing down the web site significantly.  I’m going to look at whether they’re worth keeping or if there are better substitutes.