This problem may prove relevant if you travel over the holiday season, have reason to change your SIM and you use Norton Mobile Security. There is a risk you are permanently locked out of the device.
I am operating from a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4. Android 4x or 5x. I believe 4x is the Android version but am unable to confirm as I am locked out of phone permanently.
As I was travelling in another country I changed to a local SIM. I was presented with the white background screen with the Norton By Symantec logo on the top right that states "Device locked because SIM card has been changed" there is an entry field with flashing cursor stating "Enter your passcode." No on screen keyboard is visible. The "EMERGENCY CALL" to the top right of the screen does not respond to touch.
The power on power off button works in that it is able to turn the screen on and off. The volume up and down buttons work in that the audio response indicates the volume is being adjusted up and down. The App Switching, Home and Back buttons do not work.
The device was in full working condition just prior to the SIM switch.
The problem is the device is locked and the keyboard is not visible. Tapping in the entry field does not bring up the keyboard. I have tried both a hard and soft resets, however it appears Norton Mobile Security disables those features. The device does not respond to the hard reset procedure and does not go into Recovery Mode.
Reinserting the original SIM card does not solve the problem. The same "Device locked because SIM card has been changed" screen shows up.
Running the device with no SIM card does not solve the problem. The same "Device locked because SIM card has been changed" screen shows up.
Contacted Norton Support who say it is a Samsung issue and "the vendor [Samsung] has their tools to fix the problem." Skeptical of this.
Taken aback by how a phone can be rendered useless just when you need it by Norton Mobile software. Seems to be a flaw that was not tested for. There is a similar forum post about keyboard languages and missing keyboard or no keyboard on screen. In this case the phone has only ever been run in English. Samsung swipe text input was in use and had been enabled. No custom or additional keyboards had ever been installed.
Another Samsung Android phone was purchased as there was an urgent need for communications. Both the home SIM and local SIM works in the new Android phone. Norton Mobile Security is not being run in the replacement device and SIM lock is not turned on. SIM switching is not a problem in the replacement device.
I imagine more people will eventually encounter this problem. Would be great to hear of any solutions. Thanks.