Are businesses equipped to meet the challenge posed by ransomware?

Apparently, there's a substantial level of doubt among information security professionals, according to the results of a survey released this week by security vendor Tripwire.

The survey, taken among more than 220 security pros who attended last month's Black Hat USA 2016 conference in Las Vegas, found that about two-thirds were only somewhat confident or not confident that their companies could recover from a ransomware attack without losing critical data. (Most – 57 percent – said they were somewhat confident while the remaining 9 percent said they were not confident.)

The problem posed by ransomware has gained increased attention this year. Last month, solution providers speaking at a roundtable discussion said they're ramping up their security offerings and expanding their data protection and backup strategies to meet the growing ransomware threat.

Even the FBI is warning businesses and citizens about the threat of ransomware, citing 2,400 complaints in 2015 that resulted in a reported loss of more than $24 million. The federal law enforcement agency provides advice on its website on how to combat it.

And the problem could be getting worse. A report by security vendor Quick Heal Technologies that was also released this week said the number of ransomware incidents in the second quarter of this year was about half of what was detected in all of 2015.

Want to read up on ransomware? Here are three recent articles from IT Best Of Breed and elsewhere:

IT BEST OF BREED: 5 Things Partners Need To Know About Ransomware

XPECTIVE: Top Ways Businesses Can Protect Themselves against Ransomware

FORTUNE: This Firm Has A Plan To Stop The Ransomware Epidemic