How does the amplification factor affect the severity of an NTP DDoS attack?

The amplification factor is a crucial determinant of an NTP DDoS attack's severity. A higher amplification factor means a smaller initial request generates a much larger response, leading to a significantly greater volume of traffic directed at the victim. For example, an attack with an amplification factor of 64 will generate 64 times the amount of traffic as the initial request. This can quickly overwhelm even robust network infrastructure, causing service outages and performance degradation. Mitigation strategies must account for the potential amplification factor.