I am happy to report that DreamHost, my hosting provider, has kindly responded to my request that my accounts be restored from pre-hacked backups, before all the index.* files were modified to contain spammy stuff by a hacker who gained access to my account and others via getting my password in clear text somehow from DreamHost.
Lesson learned: Always request that your password not be stored in cleartext at any time unless they are stored safely and securely. Hasing passwords with a salt is a much safer way to prevent this kind of problem from reoccurring.
