Keeping an updated bank passbook, asking for receipts and cancelling a compromised credit card are ways in which customers can protect themselves against the detrimental effects of a data breach.

Associate Professor Alan Chong of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said: "We still need offline measures and hard-copy receipts for backup." Customers should keep a black-and-white record of how much money they have in their bank accounts in case hackers alter their digital transactions after a breach.

"Receipts are legal documents" for customers to build their cases with the banks, Prof Chong added.

Mr Vincent Loy, who heads the financial services practice for Accenture in Singapore, said customers should cancel the affected credit card as the CVV (card verification value) number has been compromised.

"Some of the other things consumers can do to protect themselves include making sure they check the website they visit to be certain the address is the official one," Mr Loy said. They should also use updated Web browsers.

"Sometimes, companies also allow their clients to apply for two-factor authentication, so people should always use that," he added.