vs. SecurActive Performance Vision. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a standard that defines how to establish and maintain a network conversation via which application programs can exchange data. TCP works with the Internet Protocol (IP), which defines how computers send packet s of data to each other. Together, TCP and IP are the basic rules defining the Internet. TCP is defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in the Request for Comment (RFC) standards document number 793.