We recently did a scan on our network and found 3 UNKNOWN devices labeled Hong Kong Bouffalo Lab Limited (yes Buffalo was spelled that way).
Who are they?
Should we get rid of them?
If yes, how do we do that?
Thank you
We recently did a scan on our network and found 3 UNKNOWN devices labeled Hong Kong Bouffalo Lab Limited (yes Buffalo was spelled that way).
Who are they?
Should we get rid of them?
If yes, how do we do that?
Thank you
IMO the implications deserve serious consideration
What implications?
I know this is a long time after the initial post but i thought it would help anyone else going forward.
They make wifi lighting controllers, i have one in my home, turning a dumb light strip with an RF remote in to a wifi enabled one using the Magic home mobile app.
Even longer, but since internet conversations last forever, I’ll add still more.
Even more precisely, Bouffalo Labs (yes, with the goofy o) makes chips that may be used by companies that include WiFi lighting controllers and Bluetooth stacks. They have a family of WiFi-capable MCUs ranging from parts that are similar to an ESP8266 on through an ESP32-like family and up to a Linux-capable, three-core chip.
It’s probably something like a door lock, a light switch, a light bulb, a light strip (perhaps in a closet somewhere or a party light that’s only on rarely), or custom artwork, etc. My neighbor has one in their floodlights, probably for an internet-capable timer or maybe just to get the current time. (I’m a developer; I expected my project to be the only Bouffalo thingo nearby when I paired it. I was surprised when pairing it to see a second one with a weaker signal.)
If you’re an electronics (or electronics-adjacent) company, it might be a soldering iron. (!) Open-source company Pine64 uses the BL602 (maybe it’s the BL604 - same chip, different package with more GPIOs pinned out) in the wonderful Pinecil v2 product. It’s a lovely soldering iron. Maybe someone is working with a PineTab tablet or maybe one of the Pinebook models with a BL602. Maybe someone is running one of several different boards or AI modules from Sipeed (two e’s) that use these chips. These chips are used in modules by AiThinker (en dot ai dash thinker dot com) and sold under names like “Ai-WB2-07S” and “Ai-M61”, but to a network or Bluetooth scanner, it’ll still appear as Bouffalo, the maker of the WiFi chip. The AiThinker modules appear on water monitors and alarms and some Arduino-style development boards. They’re used in a ton of products by Tasmota, Tuya, Sonoff, and others.
In short, I’d begin a search (with a wifi signal meter in my hand) by roaming around the facility first looking for internet-connected lighting products. When the signal got strong, I’d think about low-cost (these chips are a dollar/pound or two) internet-connected things. If you’re familiar with ESP32 or ESP8266, they’re in a similar market. Maybe this information will help others looking for such devices…and help reduce the general panic of “oh, no, there’s a device from China on my network that I don’t recognize”. It’s probably nothing more nefarious than a light strip in a display somewhere or some small/inexpensive IoT device. Probably. ![]()
I would link to these, but Discourse doesn’t allow first-time posters to include links because spammers suck and it doesn’t know I’m not a spammer. (First time poster. I don’t use Avast because I use operating systems that don’t let strangers run code on them and don’t put up with work created by products with false positives.) I’m not involved with any of them. I just know the chip products.