Updating jQuery in Theme and removing

I was recently hacked. The “hack-master” we hired to fix the hacks suggested that NextGen Gallery was the reason behind the hack and highly recommended we disable it and find another photo gallery plug in to avoid future hacks.

We successfully uploaded Photo Gallery 1.2.16 plugin via WP; however, after enabling it, the album directory comes up nicely, but does not direct to the actual gallery– just the image of the album thumbnail. Please see here: http://sanirang.net/vertical-ice-quest/

Here is what the plugin author had to say over three exchanges:

“First, we would like to inform you that your theme uses an outdated version of jQuery. Please update it. The issue is connected with the tag which should be modified. If you want us to make the change please contact us at info@web-dorado.com

“Please be informed that you theme still keeps the old version of jQuery, though you have updated your version. As for the href= tag please contact us and we will remove it. Thank you.”

“For the jQuery, you will have to do the update contacting either your theme or the plugin developer team. As for the <a href then this should be removed from the code of the product and we will suggest you to contact us since improper removal might cause malfunctioning of the pop-up display. Thank you.

Our questions are.. How do we update jQuery in theme? Is there a way to remove the <a href=tag code mentioned on our own?

Looking forward to any reply– sincerely,
–SAN