diff --git a/src/cryptobox/core/blockdevice.py b/src/cryptobox/core/blockdevice.py
index 4d1edcb..c0f6cc9 100644
--- a/src/cryptobox/core/blockdevice.py
+++ b/src/cryptobox/core/blockdevice.py
@@ -248,6 +248,48 @@ class Blockdevice:
         else:
             return False
         
+    def is_debian_live(self):
+        """is the device part of the Debian Live runtime
+        """
+        ##Debian Live ("iso" or "usb-hdd" versions) uses two block
+        ##devices as part of its runtime system. The raw boot media
+        ##(such as a usb key or cdrom) is mounted at /live_media,
+        ##and the root filesystem is mounted off of the live media
+        ##using /dev/loop0.
+        deb_live_devs = []
+        for line in file("/proc/mounts"):
+            try:
+                fields = line.split(" ")
+                ##We are looking for, for example:
+                ##/dev/hdc /live_media iso9660 ro 0 0
+                ##and
+                ##/dev/loop0 /filesystem.squashfs squashfs ro 0 0
+                if (fields[1] == "/live_media" and
+                    fields[3] == "ro"):
+                    deb_live_devs.append(fields[0])
+                elif (fields[1] == "/filesystem.squashfs" and
+                      fields[3] == "ro"):
+                    deb_live_devs.append(fields[0])
+            except IndexError:
+                pass
+
+        ##TODO:    
+        ##Since the lines in /proc/mounts that affect deb_live_devs
+        ##don't change after startup, deb_live_devs could be cached here.
+        ##
+        ##Check whether any Debian Live devices refer to the
+        ##block device we were passed
+        matched = False
+        for dev in deb_live_devs:
+            for node in self.__get_device_nodes():
+                if (node == dev):
+                    matched = True
+                    
+                
+        ##If no nodes of the block device match the Debian Live
+        ##devices, return False            
+        return matched
+        
 
     def is_lvm_pv(self):
         """return if the device is a physical volume of a LVM