Due to the rapid emergence of Information Technology, cloud computing provides assorted advantages to service providers, developers, organizations, and customers with respect to scalability, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and availability. However, it also introduces new challenges and concerns, especially in terms of security and privacy. One of the major security obstacles to widespread adoption of cloud computing is the lack of near-real-time auditability. In particular, near-real-time cloud auditing, which provides timely evaluation results and rapid response, is the key to assuring the cloud. In this paper, we discuss security and privacy concerns in cloud computing and the current status of cloud auditing efforts. Next, we address the strategies for reliable cloud auditing and analyze the deficiencies of current approaches. We then discuss the summary of our case study with Amazon CloudWatch, which is one of the most developed cloud-monitoring APIs.