CREST Practitioner Security Analyst (CPSA) Practice 2026 - Free CPSA Practice Questions and Study Guide

In networking, TCP stands for Transmission Control Protocol. It is one of the foundational protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite and plays a crucial role in facilitating reliable communication between devices over a network. TCP establishes a connection-oriented session, ensuring that data packets are transmitted accurately and in order. This is achieved through mechanisms such as error checking, packet sequencing, and flow control, which work together to manage data transmission effectively.

The importance of TCP lies in its ability to provide a reliable delivery service, which is essential for applications where data integrity and order are critical, such as web browsing, email, and file transfers. Understanding TCP is fundamental for network professionals, as it lays the groundwork for many higher level applications and protocols that depend on reliable communication.

In contrast, the other options mentioned refer to different protocols that serve various functions but do not align with the specific meaning of TCP. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a connectionless protocol that prioritizes speed over reliability, while File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) are protocols designed for transferring files and sending emails, respectively. Thus, while all are important in networking, they serve distinct purposes that are separate from the function of TCP.